Since 2021, all dominant Covid variants have descended from Omicron. The 2023–2024 booster was tailored for the XBB.1.5 strain of Omicron, but JN.1 is about as different from XBB.1.5 as Omicron was from Delta. Even so, researchers from China and the US have posted preliminary analyses suggesting that the newest vaccines still effectively defend against … Read more
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Cesareans are surging in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which has one of the world’s highest rates with more than 50% of babies now delivered via surgery compared with only 32% on the U.S. mainland, according to a federal report released Wednesday. The rates of cesarean delivery on the … Read more
The Biden administration is increasingly leaning on Mexico to curb the record flow of migrants crossing into the U.S., but Mexico has its own lists of ambitious asks for the U.S., say officials from both governments familiar with the discussions. Previous measures taken by the Biden administration to stem the migrant surge have led to only temporary … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave President Biden said he will send top U.S. officials to Mexico in the coming days to seek help with the record migration surge that has pushed the number of illegal border crossings to more than 10,000 per day, prompting U.S. authorities to shut down two major railway … Read more
SINGAPORE — Singapore’s latest spike in Covid cases may be starting to peak — but the public needs to stay up to date on vaccinations, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told CNBC on Thursday. Singapore reported 56,043 Covid cases in the week of Dec. 3 to 9, marking a 75% surge compared to the week … Read more
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron shake hands at the end of a joint press conference, at the State Department in Washington, U.S., December 7, 2023. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters The Biden administration issued its strongest criticism yet of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza for its civilian death toll, … Read more
An Amazon worker delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York, US, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. An estimated 182 million people are planning to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, the most since 2017, according to the National Retail Federation. Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images This report is from today’s CNBC … Read more
BEIJING — A surge in respiratory illnesses across China that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organization is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus, the country’s health ministry said Sunday. Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as … Read more
Crowd gathers during China’s Lunar New Year celebrations. Nurphoto | Getty Images Chinese authorities reportedly called for vigilance Friday as a spike in respiratory illness continues to pile pressure on health care facilities in the north of the country, despite assurances that no “unusual or novel pathogens” have been detected. The World Health Organization said … Read more
The World Health Organization asked China for detailed information about a surge in respiratory illnesses in children, including pneumonia, as top pediatric medical centers across the country are overwhelmed with patients. The WHO cited reports including one this week from ProMED, which tracks outbreaks of infectious diseases around the world, warning of an “undiagnosed pneumonia in … Read more