Latest World Health Organization News

FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2020, file photo, coronavirus-themed Halloween decorations are displayed on a lawn in Tenafly, N.J. In a year when fear and death have commandeered front-row seats in American life, what does it mean to encounter Halloween, a holiday whose very existence hinges on turning fear and death into entertainment? (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

The Latest: Ky. gov urges more care in hardest-hit counties

Oct. 26, 2020 8:22 PM EDT

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s governor is urging people in the state’s counties hit hardest by the pandemic to take stricter steps to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Gov. Andy Beshear stressed Monday that he is only offering recommendations — not mandates. Beshear says people...

A woman, right, has a meal, inside a restaurant's outdoor tent Thursday Oct. 22, 2020, in Kew Gardens in the Queens borough of New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is easing restrictions slightly in some coronavirus hot spots in New York City, but adding them in areas along the Pennsylvania border as the state recorded more than 2,000 new infections in a single day for the first time since mid-May. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

The Latest: Mexico's Chihuahua border state back in lockdown

Oct. 23, 2020 9:26 PM EDT

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s northern border state of Chihuahua returned to the highest level of alert and lockdown Friday after coronavirus cases jumped there and hospitals began to fill up. The Chihuahua state government declared the return to the “red” level of alert Friday, which closes...

A COVID-19 patient from the Netherlands arrives for treatment by helicopter to the University hospital in Muenster, Germany, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. The transfer is intended to reduce the coronavirus pressure on the intensive care units in the Netherlands. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Dutch hospital airlifts patients to Germany amid virus surge

Oct. 23, 2020 7:02 PM EDT

ALMERE, Netherlands (AP) — A bright yellow helicopter rose into a blue sky Friday carrying a COVID-19 patient from the Netherlands to a German intensive care unit, the first such international airlift since the pandemic first threatened to swamp Dutch hospitals in the spring. The clatter of the...

Members of the festival organizing team at the Kali Bari Hindu temple pray via live transmission on the first day of Durga Puja celebrations in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. Most of the festival festivities are being scaled down following the health officials warning about the potential for the coronavirus to spread during the religious festival season, which is marked by huge gatherings in temples and shopping districts. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

The Latest: UN chief urges G20 to unite on coronavirus fight

Oct. 22, 2020 10:24 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. chief says it’s “very frustrating” that leaders of the 20 major industrialized nations didn’t come together in March and establish a coordinated response to grapple with the coronavirus in all countries as he proposed. The result, he says, is every...

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 1, 2019 file photo, Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, speaks to the media at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Health officials in Africa say the rollout of new rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 could be a “game-changer” for its fight against the coronavirus, while warning that increased testing could also drive up numbers for a continent that has seen a decline or a plateauing in confirmed cases — at a time when the West has seen case counts soar. “African countries are gearing up to introduce antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests on a large scale, and this will be a game changer, we think, in the fight against COVID-19,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, file)

WHO Africa: New rapid tests a 'game changer' against COVID

Oct. 22, 2020 11:12 AM EDT

GENEVA (AP) — Health officials in Africa say the rollout of rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 could be a “game changer” for their fight against the coronavirus but also warned Thursday that increased testing could drive up confirmed cases on a continent that has seen them decline or...

A health officer collecting swab samples from rail commuters to test for COVID-19 drinks water during a break at a railway station in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

The Latest: Sri Lanka orders more curfews over virus cluster

Oct. 21, 2020 11:49 PM EDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Authorities in Sri Lanka have closed the country’s main fish market and widened the curfew in many parts of the island nation following a surge of coronavirus infections related to a new cluster centered on a garment factory. The government imposed a curfew Thursday in parts of...

Toby Gregory's yard that is adorned with 1,006 white crosses to represent Oklahoma deaths due to COVID-19, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, in Tulsa, Okla. Gregory was able to keep up with the state death toll until last week, and then it became too many. He says he doesn't have the room or supplies to keep up with the current death toll, but will do about 50 more crosses. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

The Latest: Ireland sets new virus restrictions for 6 weeks

Oct. 19, 2020 8:12 PM EDT

LONDON — Ireland’s government is putting the country at its highest level of coronavirus restrictions for six weeks in a bid to combat a rise in infections. Premier Micheal Martin said Monday the measures take effect at midnight Wednesday and run until Dec. 1. People are being asked to stay at home,...

A woman wearing a face mask walks in Manchester, England, Monday, Oct. 19, 2020. Britain’s government says discussions about implementing stricter restrictions in Greater Manchester must be completed Monday because the public health threat caused by rising COVID-19 infections is serious and getting worse. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

World struggles as confirmed COVID-19 cases pass 40 million

Oct. 19, 2020 9:03 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the planet has surpassed 40 million, but experts say that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the true impact of the pandemic that has upended life and work around the world. The milestone was hit Monday morning, according to Johns...

President Donald Trump talks with voters after an NBC News Town Hall, at Perez Art Museum Miami, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

AP FACT CHECK: Trump sees what others do not in the pandemic

Oct. 17, 2020 8:34 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — “I believe we’re rounding the corner." “We’re a winner on the excess mortality.” “We have the vaccines coming and we have the therapies coming.” “We have done an amazing job.” President Donald Trump sees in the pandemic what...

FILE - In this Thursday, April 30, 2020 file photo, Health care workers look on during a flyover at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. One of Utah's largest hospitals had no beds left Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 in its regular intensive-care unit as the governor declared the state's weeks long spike in coronavirus cases

The Latest: New Mexico sets another one-day COVID-19 record

Oct. 16, 2020 8:09 PM EDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- New Mexico health officials on Friday confirmed the state set another single-day record with 819 COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total to 35,770 since the pandemic began. New rules to limit gatherings to five people or less, reduce hotel capacities and impose a 10 p.m. closing time for...

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