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Risk to humans from H5N1 bird flu remains low, but we must prepare, WHO says
FILE - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, speaks during a news conference at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Dec. 14, 2022. A confidential U.N. report into the alleged missteps by senior World Health Organization in the way they handled a sexual misconduct case during an Ebola outbreak in Congo found their response did not violate the agency’s policies because of what some officials described as a “loophole.” The report, which was submitted to WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus on Jan. 2023, and was not released publicly, was obtained by the Associated Press. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, File)
opinion
Is COVID-19 still a global health emergency?
André Picard
world
WHO maintains COVID-19′s public health emergency status
Patients, most of them elderly with covid symptoms, are crowded at the Changhai Hospital hall as they receive medical treatment, in Shanghai, China, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. As COVID-19 rips through China, other countries and the World Health Organization are calling on its government to share more comprehensive data on the outbreak. Some even say many of the reported numbers are meaningless. (Chinatopix Via AP)
canada
Quebec to begin new COVID-19 vaccination booster drive in mid-August
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is prepared at the Palais des Congres, as efforts continue to help slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Montreal, Quebec, Canada March 15, 2021. REUTERS/Andrej Ivanov
opinion
Conservative leadership contenders must quash the WHO conspiracy theory creeping its way into the mainstream
Campbell Clark
world
Number of COVID-19 deaths globally dropped by 21% last week, but cases rising: WHO
A worker in a protective suit sprays disinfectant at a COVID-19 testing site as a woman leaves after being tested in the Chaoyang district on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, in Beijing. Shanghai reaffirmed China's strict "zero-COVID" approach to pandemic control Wednesday, a day after the head of the World Health Organization said that was not sustainable and urged China to change strategies. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
world
Africa sees rise in measles, other diseases as pandemic disrupts vaccines
FILE - Medical staff look out from a window as officials prepare for a ceremony to commence the country's first coronavirus vaccinations using AstraZeneca provided through the global COVAX initiative, at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya on March 5, 2021. The World Health Organization said on Thursday, April 28, 2022 that Africa is seeing a surge of outbreaks of preventable diseases as a result of disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
world
Global COVID-19 case counts decline 17 per cent in latest week
FILE - The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, June 11, 2009. The World Health Organization chief on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022 says 90 million cases of coronavirus have been reported since the omicron variant was first identified 10 weeks ago, amounting to more than in all of 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)
future of work
Worker burnout is becoming endemic and it’s everyone’s job to treat it
84 per cent of workers at Canadian organizations with 100 or more employees are experiencing burnout, with 34 per cent of those workers reporting high or extreme levels.
first person
I’ve learned that epilepsy is like living with an unexpected guest (that never leaves)
world
Omicron COVID-19 variant may be less severe in young and old, but not ‘mild,’ WHO says
FILE PHOTO: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), attends a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, December 20, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
world
WHO says new COVID-19 variant IHU found in France not a concern
People wearing protective face masks walk in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in France, January 5, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
world
WHO sees more evidence suggesting Omicron causes milder symptoms than previous COVID-19 variants
FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured outside a building of the World Health Organization (WHO) during an executive board meeting on update on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Geneva, Switzerland, April 6, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
canada
COVID-19 pandemic has been a lesson in Greek alphabet, one variant at a time
The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, June 11, 2009. The Greek alphabet arrived on the world stage and into every day lexicon riding on waves of the novel coronavirus as the World Health Organization began naming variants in the Glagolitic script. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Anja Niedringhaus
canada
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a lesson in Greek letters, one variant at a time
The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, June 11, 2009. The Greek alphabet arrived on the world stage and into every day lexicon riding on waves of the novel coronavirus as the World Health Organization began naming variants in the Glagolitic script. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Anja Niedringhaus
opinion
We have the tools to combat Omicron and preserve personal freedoms. Now we need the political will
Brooks Fallis
world
WHO agrees to launch talks on international pact to tackle future pandemics
FILE - The logo of the World Health Organization, WHO, is displayed at the headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, April 15, 2020. The World Health Organization is opening a long-planned special session of member states to discuss ways to strengthen the global fight against pandemics like the coronavirus, just as the worrying new omicron variant has sparked immediate concerns worldwide. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, file)
world
Not yet clear if Omicron variant is more transmissible or causes more severe disease, WHO says
International check-in counters stand empty as several airlines stopped flying out of South Africa, amidst the spread of the new SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron, at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 28, 2021. REUTERS/ Sumaya Hisham
world
Why WHO skipped ‘Nu,’ ‘Xi’ in naming new COVID-19 variant Omicron
FILE - In this June 11, 2009, file photo, the logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The head of the World Health Organization says on Friday, Dec, 18, 2020 the U.N. health agency’s program to help get COVID-19 vaccines to all countries in need, has gained access to nearly 2 billion doses of several “promising” vaccine candidates. None of the agreements currently include the vaccines by Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, which is already in use in the United States, Canada and Britain. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)
world
WHO employees perpetrated sexual crimes in Democratic Republic of the Congo during Ebola outbreak, report alleges
FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference organized by Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva Switzerland July 3, 2020. Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
world
WHO calls for halting COVID-19 vaccine boosters
A health worker shows vials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines before administering them to colleagues who have been previously vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. Indonesia has begun administering booster shots to its health workers. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
world
China rebuffs WHO’s terms for further study into COVID-19 origins
Zeng Yixin, Vice Minister of China's National Health Commission, speaks at a press conference at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, Thursday, July 22, 2021. Zeng said Thursday he was taken aback by the World Health Organization's plan for the second phase of a COVID-19 origins study. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
world
WHO head Tedros backs Tokyo Games amid pandemic
FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a bilateral meeting with Swiss Interior and Health Minister Alain Berset on the sidelines of the opening of the 74th World Health Assembly at the WHO headquarters, in Geneva, Switzerland May 24, 2021. Laurent Gillieron/Pool via REUTERS
canada
Coronavirus Update: Canada needs to overhaul its approach to outbreaks, an independent review has found
FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2021, file photo, member of a World Health Organization team is seen wearing protective gear during a field visit to the Hubei Animal Disease Control and Prevention Center for another day of field visit in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. As the World Health Organization draws up plans for the next phase of its probe of how the coronavirus pandemic started, an increasing number of scientists say the U.N. agency it isn’t up to the task and shouldn’t be the one to investigate. Numerous experts, some with strong ties to WHO, say that political tensions between the U.S. and China make it impossible for an investigation by the agency to find credible answers. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
world
Countries should not order COVID-19 boosters while others still need vaccines, WHO says
FILE - In this Monday, May 24, 2021 file photo, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a bilateral meeting with Swiss Interior and Health Minister Alain Berset before signing a BioHub Initiative with a global COVID-19 Pathogen repository in Spiez laboratory on the sideline of the opening of the 74th World Health Assembly, WHA, at the WHO headquarters, in Geneva, Switzerland. The head of the World Health Organization said at a press briefing on Friday, July 2 the world is currently in “a very dangerous period” of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting the more contagious delta variant is identified in nearly 100 countries. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, File)
explainer
What do I need to know about the Mu, Delta and other COVID-19 variants in Canada?
This electron microscope image made available and colour-enhanced by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Md., shows Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, orange, isolated from a patient. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-NIAID/National Institutes of Health via AP
report on business
Canadian life insurers paid out more than $154-million from deaths due to COVID-19 in 2020
FILE PHOTO: The Sun Life Financial logo is seen at their corporate headquarters of One York Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Helgren//File Photo
world
WHO setting up hub to make COVID-19 vaccines in South Africa
Health workers arrive with a patient at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital's COVID-19 facility, in Johannesburg, Monday, June 21, 2021. The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Monday the U.N. agency is in discussions with numerous companies and institutions to create a technology transfer hub for coronavirus vaccines in South Africa. (AP Photo/Shiraaz Mohamed)
world
Canada only G7 country that hasn’t committed to sharing excess vaccine supply
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (C), wearing a face covering due to Covid-19, waves after landing at Cornwall Airport Newquay, near Newquay, Cornwall, on June 10, 2021, ahead of the three-day G7 summit being held from 11-13 June. (Photo by Alberto Pezzali / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALBERTO PEZZALI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
opinion
Here’s how the G7 can strengthen the world’s defence against global health threats
Paul Martin