Fully vaccinated people can skip the mask when they get together outside with others, vaccinated or not, according to A person wears a mask while jogging, April 27, 2021, near the Capitol in Olympia, Washington.The only time vaccinated people need to wear masks outdoors is when they are in crowds, like at street festivals, parades, farmers markets or political rallies, for example.Keep that mask handy, however. CDC still says to mask up when you go inside. But do go inside, the recommendations say. Indoor dining, movies, haircuts, religious services, exercise classes, and other indoor public spaces all are much safer for vaccinated people than unvaccinated.Just wear a mask.Why wear a mask indoors if you are vaccinated?”At their best, these vaccines are 95% effective,” said Vanderbilt University Medical Center infectious diseases professor William Schaffner. “I did not say 100%. So, there’s still that small risk that you could yourself acquire the infection.”Even …

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidelines Tuesday recommending that fully vaccinated people in the U.S. can now stop wearing masks outdoors unless they are in a large crowd of strangers.The updated guidelines also say people who have not been vaccinated can go maskless when outside alone or with household members, or in small outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated people.The CDC recommended for most of the past year that people in the U.S. wear masks outdoors if they are within two meters of each other.The updated guidance is part of the Biden Administration’s initiative to carefully return the country to some state of normalcy. COVID-19 has killed nearly 573,000 people, by far the most in the world.The guidelines were relaxed after more than half of adults in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and more than a third have been …

It’s literally the foundation of modern life.A slab of concrete underlies nearly every permanent structure on Earth. Concrete blocks are a Workers clean steps near a recently erected office high-rise in Beijing, China, April 20, 2017.”If we do not find ways to make concrete in a more benign way, we do have a problem,” said Volker Sick, mechanical engineering professor and University of Michigan Global CO2 Initiative director.A handful of companies are beginning to step up. Some have even found ways to turn carbon dioxide, a pollutant, into a resource.Two recently won the Soviet-era concrete apartment blocks close to the pond in Star City near Moscow, Russia, Oct. 21, 2020.CarbonCure, CarbonBuilt and a few other companies have found ways to turn the process on its head. They inject carbon dioxide into cement while it is still wet, before it hardens. They have modified the formulas for their cement so the carbon dioxide forms minerals …

Thirty-seven percent of surveyed countries are still experiencing disruptions in vaccinating children against deadly diseases like measles compared to 2020 levels, according to a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The disruptions stem from the COVID-19 pandemic, the groups say. They also say 60 lifesaving campaigns are currently “postponed in 50 countries, putting around 228 million people — mostly children — at risk for measles, yellow fever and polio.”   As the world marks World Immunization Week 2021, which takes place in the last week of April, the groups are calling for countries to increase investments in vaccines. The groups say investment could save 50 million lives by 2030. “If we’re to avoid multiple outbreaks of life-threatening diseases like measles, yellow fever and diphtheria, we must ensure routine vaccination services are protected in every country in the world,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom …

Senegal banned single-use plastics a year ago, but the regulation has been poorly enforced and plastic waste still litters the coastline and threatens health. For Earth Day (April 22) this year, a group of Senegalese surfers, scuba divers, and activists took matters into their own hands and to set an example for others to follow.  From bottles and bags to food wrappers and fishing nets, plastic waste is piling up on Senegal’s beaches, harming the environment that people and animals depend on.  A bird stands atop a mound of rubbish overlooking a polluted canal in Dakar, Senegal, Apr. 23, 2021.Toxic chemicals from plastic leach into the water and can build up in fish, which are a vital part of the Senegalese diet.  Senegal’s Ministry of Public Health notes links between plastic pollution and infertility, heart disease, cancer, and other health problems.  “All of these products that are used by the industry can …

Senegal banned single-use plastics a year ago, but the regulation has been poorly enforced and plastic waste still litters the coastline and threatens health. For Earth Day (April 22) this year, a group of Senegalese surfers, scuba divers, and activists took matters into their own hands and to set an example for others to follow.  Annika Hammerschlag reports from Dakar. Camera: Annika Hammerschlag       …

A top European Union official said Sunday that Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should be able to travel to Europe by summer, easing existing travel restrictions.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told The New York Times that the union’s 27 members would accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by the European Medicines Agency. The agency has approved the three vaccines used in the United States.”The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” von der Leyen said. “This will enable free movement and travel to the European Union.”She did not say when travel could resume. The EU largely shut down nonessential travel more than a year ago.European Union countries agreed this month to launch COVID-19 travel passes that would permit people who have been vaccinated against the disease, recovered from an infection or have tested negative to …

As the world marks World Malaria Day (April 25), several African countries continue to battle the impact of a preventable disease claiming thousands of lives. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, malaria has claimed an estimated 380,000 lives in 2018 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But there are some signs of hope in Somalia.This year’s theme was reaching the “Zero Malaria” target as the WHO celebrated the achievement of those countries that are on the verge of eliminating the disease.While Somalia is still not malaria-free, the country’s authorities say there has been some progress in the past three years in decreasing the number of deaths from the disease. That is welcome news for the Horn of Africa nation struggling to curb other challenges, including drought and lack of security.  Dr. Ali Abdulrahman, manager of Somalia’s national malaria control department,  pointed out that deaths from malaria have declined, from 31 in …

In March, one of the world’s biggest container ships became stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal, creating a commercial logjam and spikes in the cost of oil. At a training facility in France, mariners are learning how to avoid a similar predicament.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …

This year’s commemoration of World Malaria Day celebrates the progress being made in eliminating the disease. The World Health Organization is calling for action to build on these achievements and continue the work to create a malaria-free world.Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple other crises, 24 countries are reported to have stopped malaria transmission for three or more years by the end of 2020. To date, 38 countries and territories have been certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization, including most recently El Salvador, Algeria and Sri Lanka.WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said malaria elimination is a viable goal for all countries, no matter how far they may be from the ultimate target.“WHO has identified a set of 25 countries … with a potential to reach zero malaria within the next five years. Working together, building on each other’s success and supported with sustained funding, we can dare to dream of …

COVID-19 has “shaken” India, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his monthly radio address Sunday.349,691 new COVID cases had been recorded in the previous 24-hour period, yet another daily record, the country’s health ministry said Sunday.The new infection figures are likely undercounted, public health officials have warned. A recent account in The New York Times said, “however staggering” the reports are from the ministry of a string of days with more than 300,000 new infections, the numbers “represent just a fraction of the real reach of the virus’s spread.”The U.S. is under pressure from the international community to release some of its warehoused COVID vaccines to India and other countries that need the shots.In addition to hundreds of thousands of new daily COVID cases, India is also experiencing an oxygen shortage, literally leaving COVID patients gasping for air.The Biden administration’s top medical adviser on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, …

Thailand on Sunday set a record for the daily number of COVID-19 deaths for the second consecutive day, as authorities step up the response to a rapid third wave of infections after about a year of relative success slowing the spread of coronavirus.Thailand will slow down issuing travel documents for foreign nationals from India due to the outbreak of a new coronavirus B.1.617 variant, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s COVID-19 taskforce.“For foreigners from India entering Thailand, right now we will slow this down,” said Taweesin, adding that 131 Thai nationals in India already registered to travel in May will still be allowed into the country.Thailand reported 2,438 new coronavirus cases and 11 new deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 55,460 and fatalities to 140 since the pandemic started last year.Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on his Facebook page on Saturday said provincial governors can close public …

Victor Guevara knows people his age have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in many countries. His own relatives in Houston have been inoculated.But the 72-year-old Honduran lawyer, like so many others in his country, is still waiting. And increasingly, he is wondering why the United States is not doing more to help, particularly as the American vaccine supply begins to outpace demand and doses that have been approved for use elsewhere in the world, but not in the U.S., sit idle.“We live in a state of defenselessness on every level,” Guevara said of the situation in his Central American homeland.Honduras has obtained a paltry 59,000 vaccine doses for its 10 million people. Similar gaps in vaccine access are found across Africa, where just 36 million doses have been acquired for the continent’s 1.3 billion people, as well as in parts of Asia.In the United States, more than one-fourth of the population …

The number of COVID-19 jabs administered globally surpassed the 1 billion mark on Saturday, offering hope after months of pandemic misery, even as the number of coronavirus cases worldwide hit another daily record, mainly because of an explosion of the virus in India.At least 1,002,938,540 doses have been administered in 207 countries and territories, according to an AFP tally.Nevertheless, the number of new infections topped 893,000 worldwide on Friday, a one-day record.And India accounted for more than a third of those, with authorities there announcing 346,786 more new cases on Saturday, a record for a single country since the start of the pandemic.The pandemic has now killed more than 3 million people worldwide since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.And India, with its population of 1.3 billion, has become the new hot spot, with the current surge blamed on a new virus variant and recent “super spreader” public …

Ever wonder what it would feel like to unplug from a hyperconnected world and hide away in a dark cave for 40 days? Fifteen people in France did just that, emerging Saturday from a scientific experiment to say that time seemed to pass more slowly in their cavernous underground abode in southwestern France, where they were deprived of clocks and light.With big smiles on their pale faces, the 15 left their voluntary isolation in the Lombrives cave to a round of applause and basked in the light while wearing special glasses to protect their eyes after so long in the dark. “It was like pressing pause,” said 33-year-old Marina Lançon, one of the seven female members in the experiment, adding she didn’t feel there was a rush to do anything.Although she wished she could have stayed in the cave a few days longer, she said she was happy to feel the wind …

China will discuss building a defense system against near-Earth asteroids, a senior space agency official said Saturday, as the country steps up its longer-term space ambitions.Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, did not provide further detail in his opening remarks at a ceremony for China’s Space Day in the eastern city of Nanjing.China has made space exploration a top priority in recent years, aiming to establish a program operating thousands of space flights a year and carrying tens of thousands of tons of cargo and passengers by 2045.The European Space Agency last year signed a deal worth 129 million euros ($156 million) to build a spacecraft for a joint project with NASA examining how to deflect an asteroid heading for Earth.China is pushing forward a mission where one space probe will land on a near-Earth asteroid to collect samples, fly back toward Earth to release a capsule …