(Reuters) – India reported its highest daily caseload since late-May, while Australia’s infections hit a record, as countries globally sought to prevent further spread of the disease and cushion the economic damage stemming from the surge in cases.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised for attending a “bring your own booze” gathering at his official residence during the UK’s first lockdown, as a senior figure in his party and opponents said he should resign.
* French teachers will walk off the job en masse on Thursday over what they say is the government’s failure to adopt a coherent policy for schools to manage the pandemic, or properly protect pupils and staff against infection.
* Germany should make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all adults, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told parliament.
AMERICAS
* The Biden administration criticised China’s decision to cancel a growing number of flights from the United States to China because of passengers who later tested positive, and warned that it could take action in response.
* Canada will allow unvaccinated Canadian truckers to cross in from the United States, reversing a decision requiring all truckers to be inoculated against the coronavirus.
* World Health Organization Emergency Director Mike Ryan refuted statements made by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that the Omicron variant would be welcome and that it could even bring about the end of the pandemic.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Tianjin in northern China reported 41 domestically transmitted cases, while the northeastern city of Dalian also reported that an individual arriving from Tianjin had also contracted the Omicron variant.
* South Korea will begin treating coronavirus patients with Pfizer’s antiviral pills on Friday, health officials said.
* India reported 247,417 new cases on Thursday, the most since late-May.
* Australia reported its biggest pandemic caseload with a runaway Omicron outbreak driving up hospitalisation rates, as the surge put severe strain on supply chains forcing authorities to ease quarantine rules for more workers.
* Qantas Airways has pared about a third of planned domestic and international capacity in the March quarter to better match travel demand after a rise in COVID-19 infections.
AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
* A senior official in Tunisia’s main opposition party told Reuters it planned to go ahead with a protest despite new restrictions including a ban on all gatherings.
* Morocco is considering wage hikes for health workers and tax incentives to attract foreign investors and doctors to plug shortages in the health system.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* India’s Bharat Biotech said on Wednesday a booster shot of its Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine administered six months after the last of two doses neutralises both the Omicron and Delta variants of the coronavirus.
* The “brain fog” reported by some people after COVID-19 shows striking similarities to the condition known as “chemo brain” — the mental cloudiness some people experience during and after cancer treatment.
* Moderna expects to report data from its COVID-19 vaccine trial in children aged between 2 to 5 years in March.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares were mixed on Thursday, while the dollar slipped as global investors assessed that strong U.S. inflation data was not worrying enough to change the Federal Reserve’s already hawkish rates outlook. [MKTS/GLOB]
* China’s export growth likely lost more steam in December as a key economic driver continues to weaken, while imports also slowed and concerns over the Omicron variant weighed on the demand outlook, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.
(Compiled by Shailesh Kuber, Valentine Baldassari, Alexander Kloss and Uttaresh.V; Edited by Arun Koyyur and Shounak Dasgupta)
