LONDON (AFP) – Manchester United bounced back with a 3-0 win at Tottenham on Saturday (Oct 30) as Chelsea took advantage of stumbles by Liverpool and Manchester City to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to three points. Liverpool blew at 2-0 lead at Anfield as Brighton battled back to earn... » read more
SINGAPORE – One imported Covid-19 case in Singapore of the AY.4.2 Delta subvariant has been confirmed as at Tuesday (Oct 26), said the Ministry of Health on Thursday night. The subvariant is a mutation of the Covid-19 Delta variant. It is a combination of the AY.4 Delta variant and the S:Y145H spike mutation. The Health Ministry... » read more
BERLIN (AFP) – Joshua Kimmich revealed on Saturday (Oct 23) he has opted not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 due to “personal concerns” even with Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann currently in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus. According to German daily Bild, Kimmich is one of five Bayern players who are unvaccinated.... » read more
SINGAPORE – From Friday (Oct 22), around 1,000 postmen will be delivering 10 antigen rapid test (ART) kits to every Singapore household. The Ministry of Health (MOH) will mail them via SingPost, making it more convenient for the public to test themselves regularly at home. This distribution exercise – the second of its kind – comes... » read more
SINGAPORE – To live with Covid-19, everyone needs to exercise personal responsibility, test yourself when necessary, self-isolate if the test is positive and consult a doctor if there are symptoms. The Straits Times takes you through the toolkit to keep you and your family ready. How to prepare yourself 1. Thermometer Have a thermometer on... » read more
SINGAPORE – Editorial content producer Theophila Toh, 24, is on a mission: to connect with those in anti-vaccination messaging groups and address fake news there. She was inspired after a 65-year-old woman was hospitalised on Oct 1 after taking ivermectin – a drug used to treat parasite infections – on the advice of her church... » read more
SINGAPORE – The long working hours and constant changes to Covid-19 protocols have a taken a toll on the mental wellbeing of healthcare workers here as Singapore continues to battle the pandemic. Many of these workers are also afraid of being suddenly redeployed to another role altogether to meet the surge in Covid-19 cases, Dr... » read more
SINGAPORE – The Republic has inked a supply and purchase agreement for an antiviral pill to treat Covid-19 that is said to be effective against all known variants of the virus, including the Delta variant. The drug was developed by pharmaceutical firm Merck in the United States and Canada, together with Miami-based Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. Merck... » read more
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Golden State Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins says he was forced to get the one dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine in order to keep playing in the National Basketball Association. “I guess you don’t own your body,” Wiggins said after the Warriors exhibition game on Monday against Portland. “That’s what it comes... » read more
BILBAO (REUTERS) – The captain of the Afghan women’s wheelchair basketball team made her debut for her new Spanish side on Saturday (Oct 2) to cheers and applause just over a month after fleeing Kabul when the Taliban came to power. Nilofar Bayat, 28, and her husband Ramesh Naik Zai, 27, were offered the chance... » read more
SINGAPORE – Twenty vending machines which dispense antigen rapid test (ART) kits have been installed at private hospitals and companies islandwide, The Straits Times has learnt. Fintech start-up Beep Technologies is working with IHH Healthcare Singapore’s hospitals, including Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, to install those machines there. Each hospital has one to two machines. The... » read more
BERLIN (REUTERS) – Tickets for the Beijing 2022 winter Olympics will be sold to spectators from mainland China only, while unvaccinated athletes must spend 21 days in quarantine ahead of the Games, the International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday (Sept 29). Organisers of the Beijing Games have informed the IOC’s Executive Board 2022 of the... » read more
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – LeBron James confirmed he had been vaccinated against Covid-19 on Tuesday (Sept 28) but said it was “not my job” to convince other NBA players to follow suit. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar had previously to say whether he had been vaccinated, saying it was a “private” matter for him and... » read more
SINGAPORE – Seniors aged 60 and above are strongly encouraged to avoid attending religious activities even if they are vaccinated against Covid-19, and children will be barred from participating in non-congregational religious activities, said the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) on Saturday (Sept 25) morning. This follows the previous day’s announcement by the... » read more
SINGAPORE – Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has extended its emergency department to cope with the surge in Covid-19 daily cases. In a video circulating on Facebook on Thursday (Sept 23), hospital staff can be seen making their rounds in full personal protective equipment in what appears to be a makeshift holding area inside a... » read more
SINGAPORE – Three Singaporeans have died of Covid-19 complications, taking the Republic’s Covid-19 death toll to 65, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (Sept 21). One of them was a 62-year-old Singaporean woman who died on Monday after a prolonged stay at the hospital. She had tested positive for Covid-19 infection on July 23... » read more
SINGAPORE – There were 934 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases on Friday (Sept 17), the highest daily number since April last year. There were 838 new cases in the community and one imported one, as well as 96 cases among dormitory residents, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update. Of the new... » read more
SINGAPORE – For the past year and a half, shopkeepers in Little India have been hit hard by a drastic fall in income as migrant workers who would throng the area on weekends were confined to their dormitories as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Crowds of more than 200,000 workers on a typical pre-pandemic... » read more
SINGAPORE – Business leaders have expressed concerns over the new Covid-19 workplace management rules which, they say, could impact operations if fresh infections force their staff to work from home. Some said that the rules could be disruptive, particularly in the face of a manpower crunch. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Manpower issued an updated... » read more
LAUSANNE SWITZERLAND (REUTERS) – International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said on Wednesday (Sept 8) that the organisation had helped around 100 members of the “Olympic community” in Afghanistan to leave the country on humanitarian visas. The rescue efforts, which began after the Tokyo Games and before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last... » read more