Now playing Next Health news Why are experts worried about the 'Kraken' COVID variant? Epidemiologists say the new subvariant is the most immune-evasive variant yet. 05/01/2023
Now playing Next Health news As COVID cases soar in China, so does the risk of a new variant Many hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients since China drastically eased its COVID-19 restrictions earlier this month. 26/12/2022
Now playing Next Netherlands European Medicines Agency approves Omicron booster vaccine The agency expects these vaccines to "help maintain optimal protection" against a continually evolving coronavirus 01/09/2022
Now playing Next Health news Britain approves Moderna's Omicron-adapted COVID booster Each dose of the booster shot will target both the original COVID virus that was first detected in 2020 and the omicron BA.1 variant. 15/08/2022
Now playing Next Health news How the ‘Centaurus’ Omicron subvariant could become dominant worldwide BA.2.75, which has picked up the nickname "Centaurus," is now dominant in India, overtaking the previously most transmissible subvariant BA.5. 15/07/2022
Now playing Next world news WHO Europe chief says 'we should not be complacent' over COVID-19 rise Many European countries are experiencing a surge in new COVID-19 infections, with the more transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5 spreading across the continent. 01/07/2022
Now playing Next Health news What are the COVID subvariants we should really care about? Confused with the Omicron alphabet soup? We make sense of subvariants such as BA.4 and BA.5 and what they mean for the COVID pandemic. 17/05/2022
Now playing Next Health news XE variant: What we know about the new COVID strain found in England Scientists think this hybrid variant combining two strains of Omicron may be even more infectious with more than a thousand confirmed cases. 30/04/2022
Now playing Next China Frustration in Shanghai over COVID-19 lockdown policy As Shanghai and other cities shut down to fight coronavirus outbreaks, China faces sinking economic growth. 18/04/2022
Now playing Next Health news Subvariant BA.2: What we know about the most dominant COVID strain BA.2, one of three known subvariants of Omicron, is now the most dominant form of COVID in the world, believed to be more transmissible than previous strains. 30/03/2022
Now playing Next Health news Moderna seeks emergency approval for COVID vaccine in kids under 6 Moderna’s COVID vaccine is around 44 per cent effective for children aged 6 months to 2 years old, early clinical trial results show. 23/03/2022
Now playing Next no comment Shanghai neighbourhoods barricaded as Covid cases grow Some residential areas of Shanghai are cordoned off with high yellow barricades, where many cases of covid-19 have been confirmed. 23/03/2022
Now playing Next world news Europe's Omicron wave is 'moving east', warns WHO The number of COVID-19 infections has doubled in six countries in the WHO Europe region over the past week. 15/02/2022
Now playing Next Russia Russian daily COVID count surpasses 120,000 due to Omicron onslaught Russia’s state statistics agency puts the country's pandemic death toll much higher than Europe's record 330,728 casualties, saying the number of coronavirus-linked deaths was over 625,000. 29/01/2022
Now playing Next Health news Omicron survives up to 8 days on plastic surfaces, new study finds The Japanese researchers found Omicron can last up to eight days on plastic surfaces and 21 hours on skin. 24/01/2022
Now playing Next world news Europe could be moving towards 'a kind of pandemic endgame', says WHO Europe could be moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame, said WHO's Europe director Hans Kluge. But, he added, it is too early to call COVID an endemic. 24/01/2022
Now playing Next USA Booster shots needed against Omicron, US CDC studies show Three studies released on Friday offered more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the Omicron variant, at least among people who received booster shots. 21/01/2022
Now playing Next France COVID-19: French teachers' unions call for renewed strike action The new strike on Thursday is a prelude to a "massive" nationwide walkout on January 27. 20/01/2022
Now playing Next Canada COVID-19: Quebec introduces new restrictions for the unvaccinated From now on, liquor and cannabis stores are only accessible to people who are vaccinated against COVID-19. 20/01/2022
Now playing Next New Zealand New Zealand says it won't use lockdowns when Omicron spreads “This stage of the pandemic is different to what we have dealt with before. Omicron is more transmissible," Ardern said. “That is going to make it harder to keep it out, but it will also make it more challenging to control once it arrives. But just like before, when COVID changes, we change.” 20/01/2022
