116-yr-old woman in Turkey beats Covid

ANKARA/LONDON/MOSCOW: A 116-year-old woman in Turkey has survived Covid-19, according to her son, making her one of the oldest patients to beat the deadly respiratory disease.

Ayse Karatay has now been moved to a normal ward, her son Ibrahim has told the Demiroren news agency.

“My mother fell ill at the age of 116 and stayed in the intensive care unit for three weeks... Her health is very good now and she’s getting better,” he said.

Hospitals in the heart of California’s Central Valley are running out of beds in their intensive care units, state officials announced on Friday, as a more contagious version of the coronavirus continues to spread primarily among the unvaccinated population.

Also, the UK is considering introducing the need for vaccine passports for large venues in September, but has yet to decide whether to roll out jabs to healthy schoolchildren.

The government is “looking at by the end of September” requiring Covid-19 vaccine certification for entry to large venues where infection risk may be higher, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said in an interview with Sky News.

Russia’s coronavirus cases tally hit 7mn on Sunday, with the country reporting 18,645 new infections in the past 24 hours and 793 more deaths.

Australia reported 1,684 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday as authorities race ahead with vaccinations in a bid to end lockdowns on the populous southeast coast in the hope of making Christmas as close to normal as possible.

Japan will issue online vaccination certificates from December, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday while Israel said it would relaunch a pilot programme granting entry to tourist groups from select countries as cases dip ahead of the Jewish High Holidays.