Tanzania says aims to cut malaria infection rate to 3.5 pct by 2025

22:08, February 05, 2021

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  US economy contracts 3.5 pct in 2020 amid COVID-19 fallout

  economy contracted 3.5 percent in 2020 amid COVID-19 fallout, the largest annual decline of U. gross domestic product since 1946, according to data released by the U.

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  Coronavirus infection rate in UK 'still alarmingly high': PM

  File photoLONDON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus infection rate in Britain is "still alarmingly high", British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday.While there are "signs of hope", the level of infection is still too high to consider relaxing social distancing guidelines, Johnson said at a virtual Downing Street news briefing.Johnson said that 90 percent of those aged over 75 in England had received the first dose of a COVID vaccine.The prime minister said although the number in hospital was beginning to fall, the National Health Service (NHS) was still under "huge pressure".Earlier Wednesday, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 10 million people in Britain have been given the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, which means 15 percent of Britains population have had their first coronavirus jab.Joining Johnson for the press briefing, Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty said it looks as if Britain is past the peak of its current wave."I think that most of my colleagues think we are past the peak," Whitty said."That doesnt mean you can never have another peak, but at this point in time -- provided people continue to follow the guidelines -- we are on the downward slope of cases, hospitalization and of deaths in all four nations of the United Kingdom, so I think we do think, at this point, this peak at least, we are past."Another 19,202 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,871,825, according to official figures released Wednesday.The country also reported another 1,322 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 109,335.These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.Britain aims to deliver a first dose to 15 million of the most vulnerable by mid-February and to offer all adults their first ...

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  S. Korean president's approval rating falls to 39.0 pct: poll

  File photo SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-ins approval rating fell 3.5 percentage points over the week to 39.0 percent this week, a weekly poll showed on Thursday.The approval score declined below 40 percent in three weeks, according to the Realmeter survey.The negative assessment on Moons conduct of state affairs rose 3.8 percentage points from a week earlier to 56.6 percent this week.Support for Moons ruling Democratic Party slipped 1.8 percentage points to 30.6 percent.The main conservative opposition People Power Party garnered 32.3 percent of support this week, up 2.6 percentage points from the previous week.The minor center-left Open Democratic Party won 6.8 percent of approval score, followed by the minor center-right Peoples Party with 6.3 percent and the minor progressive Justice Party with 4.5 percent each.The results were based on a survey of 1,511 voters conducted from Monday to Wednesday. It had plus and minus 2.5 percentage points in margin of error with a 95-percent confidence level.