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Covid-19 headlines with summaries.
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China reports almost 13,000 additional Covid-19-related deaths
22 Jan 2023China has reported almost 13,000 deaths related to Covid-19 in hospitals between 13 and 19 January, adding to the nearly 60,000 in the month-or-so before that.
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Japan to consider downgrading Covid-19 to less serious infectious disease
20 Jan 2023Japan will consider revising Covid-19 measures as early as this spring, says Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
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Why elimination should be the default global strategy for future pandemics
19 Jan 2023Opinion - An upgraded global response to future potential pandemic threats would give the best chance of eliminating new infectious diseases at source before they spread globally.
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Those who lost relatives to Covid-19 in China angry at failure to protect elderly
19 Jan 2023As hundreds of millions of Chinese travel to reunite with families for the Lunar New Year, many will do so after mourning relatives who died in the latest Covid-19 wave.
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Covid-19: Number of cases drops to 19,215, 57 deaths and 333 in hospital
16 Jan 2023The Ministry of Health is reporting another drop in the number of Covid-19 cases this week.
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'Hundreds of thousands of deaths' - China's Covid death surge likely underreported
15 Jan 2023China has announced nearly 60,000 people with Covid-19 have died in hospital, a huge jump from previously reported figures, but a NZ expert says the real figure is likely much higher.
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NZ volunteers among those testing combined Covid-19 and flu vaccine
11 Jan 2023A Wellington medical company is running a trial of a combined vaccine for both flu and Covid-19. Audio
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'Novel features' of Kraken a cause for concern, Michael Baker says
10 Jan 2023The new Omicron subvariant has the potential to create a new wave of Covid-19 cases, the epidemiologist says.
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'I'm not a criminal, I'm a regular person': Charges dropped against Parliament protester
10 Jan 2023A woman who was one of the more than 250 people arrested during the anti-mandate vaccine protest at Parliament but has now had her charges dropped talks about the experience.
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Covid-19: XBB.1.5 variant detected in New Zealand
9 Jan 2023Two Covid-19 cases have been found to have the XBB.1.5 variant, also known as 'Kraken'.
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Covid-19: Fiji detects XBB.1.5 variant, starts border review
Fiji has announced it has detected the XBB.1.5 variant of Covid-19.
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Could China's Covid-19 outbreak lead to the next variant of concern? Here's what the experts say
9 Jan 2023As China emerges from its Covid-zero cocoon, the country is experiencing an unprecedented surge in cases that's fuelling global concern over new variants.
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China's 'great migration' kicks-off under shadow of Covid-19
8 Jan 2023China is marking its first Lunar New Year since 2020 without Covid-19 domestic travel restrictions and more than 2 billion people are expected to travel over the next 40 days.
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Covid-19: Health experts, politicians back govt's decision on travellers from China
5 Jan 2023Health experts are backing the government's decision not to impose pre-departure Covid-19 testing on travellers from China - saying it would be a case of "xenophobia".
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Should we be worried about new Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5?
4 Jan 2023A new variant is surging in the US, with the Centers for Disease Control projecting it accounted for about 40 percent of US Covid cases in the last week of December.
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WHO says China data underrepresents Covid-19 surge and deaths
China's Covid-19 data is not giving an accurate picture of the situation there and underrepresents the number of hospitalisations and deaths from the disease, says the World Health Organization (WHO).
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New Zealand will not impose entry restrictions on travellers from China
4 Jan 2023New Zealand will not require travellers from China to be tested for Covid-19, the government has announced.
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Covid-19 cases and deaths continue to fall, latest figures show
4 Jan 2023The Ministry of Health is reporting the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths of people with the virus are falling, while the number in hospital remains steady.
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Letter suggests trans-Tasman consensus mandatory testing of travellers from China unnecessary
3 Jan 2023New Zealand health officials reportedly agreed with Australian counterparts that introducing mandatory Covid-19 testing for travellers from China was an overreaction.
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China criticises 'political' Covid-19 tourist rules
4 Jan 2023The Chinese government has suggested that travel restrictions imposed on Chinese arrivals are politically motivated - with New Zealand yet to decide whether it will require mandatory Covid-19 testing… Audio
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Australia's chief medical officer advised against mandatory Covid-19 testing for China travellers
Australia's chief medical officer explicitly advised the Albanese government not to introduce mandatory Covid-19 testing on travellers from China a day before the measure was announced.
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Covid-19: Expert says NZ should impose China pre-departure test rule
2 Jan 2023Epidemiologist Michael Baker says New Zealand should follow Australia and other countries in implementing a requirement for negative Covid-19 predeparture tests for travellers from China.
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Covid-19: More countries impose restrictions on travellers from China
31 Dec 2022Authorities around the world are imposing or considering curbs on travellers from China as Covid-19 cases in the country surge.
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Bloomfield on knighthood and unexpected fame: 'I just kept being myself'
31 Dec 2022After an extraordinary four years the former director general of health has been made a knight for services to public health.
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