Honduras has brought back mask mandates as COVID-19 cases and a new variant surge nationwide.
More than five years after the initial COVID-19 outbreak, Honduras has reintroduced mandatory mask wearing in public spaces as infections rise and a new virus variant circulates across the country.
The Health Ministry confirmed two virus-related deaths this week, bringing the 2025 total to six, all involving patients with pre-existing conditions.
“We have already surpassed last year’s infection limit,” said Lorenzo Pavón, head of Health Surveillance. “There are currently five patients admitted to Hospital Escuela with suspected COVID-19.”
From January to July last year, 596 COVID-19 cases were reported. In the same period this year, the number has climbed to 654.
The new measures, effective Thursday, require mask use in hospitals, airports, banks, shopping centers, schools, public transport, and other enclosed or crowded areas. The government also imposed remote work mandates for public sector institutions.
Authorities are urging citizens to update their COVID-19 and flu vaccinations, maintain hygiene practices, and seek medical care for respiratory symptoms. The Health Ministry said it will closely monitor virus variants and may expand restrictions if infections continue to rise.
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Oil prices fell after the U.S. expanded economic sanctions on Iran, as Tehran vowed to retaliate and warned it had tools to respond, raising concerns over potential disruption to regional oil supplies.
Kyiv has recently received a small number of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors capable of downing Russian ballistic missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. It comes as Britain and France pledged stronger military support for Ukraine.
Only four commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, following 13 transits a day earlier, as disruptions continue to restrict traffic through the key energy chokepoint.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told allied foreign ministers Washington will focus on sanctions and other pressure on Iran “for the time being”, Axios reports. Meanwhile, Iran and Oman have resumed talks on a temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 10 prisoners of war each in Belarus, Moscow's Human Rights Commissioner, Yana Lantratova, has said.
Australia has confirmed its first case of H5N1 bird flu in a mammal after the virus was detected in a dead long-nosed fur seal in South Australia, authorities said.
Malaysia is facing a sharp rise in dengue infections, with the capital Kuala Lumpur and the wider Klang Valley emerging as the main centres of concern.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak has surpassed 5,000 confirmed cases, with the death toll reaching 2,378, according to the latest government data.
The Democratic Republic of Congo says the number of confirmed Ebola cases has risen to more than 5,000, with more than 2,300 deaths. Delayed detection, weak surveillance, funding shortages and conflict have allowed the virus to spread faster than in any previous epidemic at the same stage.
Australia warned on Monday (3 August) of a wider spread of H5N1 bird flu after its first confirmed mass mortality event among seabirds killed about 50 greater crested terns off the coast of South Australia, south of Adelaide.
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