Hitting the gym after getting your COVID-19 shot may not be on your to-do list, but new research shows that regular physical activity may boost the vaccine’s effectiveness. According to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the level of protection a person receives against the SARS-CoV-2 […]
COVID19
COVID-19 testmaker Atomo pops on ASX debut
Rapid blood test company Atomo Diagnostics, which has recently pivoted to supplying kits for COVID-19 antibody tests, has more its debut on the ASX at more than double its initial public offering price. It is the first float on the ASX in six weeks, since junior gold explorer Kaiser Reef […]
COVID-19 puts toll traffic in slow lane
Only three of Transurban’s 17 toll roads got busier during the March quarter – and one of those was in the United States – as coronavirus restrictions slowed average daily traffic across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Car trips on nearly all the company’s Australian roads fell in the three months […]
QBE to raise $1.3bn for COVID-19 buffer
Insurance giant QBE is embarking on a $US825 million ($A1.3 billion) raising to build a buffer against the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The company, which also said premium growth had been strong in the first quarter, is the latest in a growing list of ASX-listed firms to tap shareholders […]
Mortgage lending fell as COVID-19 loomed
The value of new home loans fell by a worse-than-expected 1.7 per cent in February even before the most serious coronavirus lockdown measures were in place. Economists had tipped the total value of housing loans to slow from 4.6 per cent growth in January as the COVID-19 outbreak emerged into […]
Gold jumps on COVID-19 stimulus measures
Gold prices surged over 2.0 per cent to a more than three-week high on Monday on expectations of global stimulus measures to counter the economic damage caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Spot gold was up 2.3 per cent at $US1,653.35 per ounce, having hit its highest level […]
Copper up on slowing COVID-19 infections
Copper has risen, supported by a slowdown in the death toll from coronavirus in some European countries and falling inventories, though fears of recession continued to weigh on prices. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.1 per cent at $US4,891 a tonne by 1705 GMT. Its 1.0 […]
Farming sector can beat COVID-19: Rabobank
Australia’s agricultural sector can weather the COVID-19 storm despite the global economic downturn and pressure on commodity prices, according to Rabobank. The Dutch multinational on Friday said several factors would help cushion the negative economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the industry in coming months. These included the low […]
Job vacancies dip slightly before COVID-19
Job vacancies in Australia edged only slightly lower during the summer bushfire crisis, though the figures have come too soon to reflect the spread of the coronavirus. In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of job vacancies decreased by 0.1 per cent in the February 2020 quarter and by 2.2 per […]
Rapid COVID-19 testing coming to Aust
Pinprick blood tests that detect COVID-19 in just minutes are coming to Australia within days. Melbourne diagnostic company Endo X and ASX-listed biotech company Cellmid are among several companies that have signed import agreements with Chinese manufacturers to deliver rapid COVID-19 tests into Australia. Cellmid says its testing kits from […]