(Reuters) – Singapore suspended quarantine-free travel and Australia renewed its vaccination push as surging cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant just days before Christmas forced authorities to impose new curbs and expedite booster shots.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
AMERICAS
* U.S. President Joe Biden announced more federal vaccination and testing sites to tackle a surge in COVID-19 driven by Omicron. He also accused unspecified cable television personalities and social media companies of making money by “peddling lies” about vaccines.
* U.S. health authorities are considering reducing the 10-day recommended quarantine period for Americans who test positive.
* The U.S. Justice Department announced it would not force federal inmates who were sent home due to the pandemic to return to prison once the emergency is lifted.
* British Columbia will shut gyms, bars and nightclubs while allowing fewer people at tables in restaurants and cafes through the Christmas holiday period.
* Walmart, Walgreens Boots Alliance and CVS Health Corp have limited sales of at-home COVID-19 testing kits as demand surges.
EUROPE
* Britain from Wednesday is reducing the COVID-19 self-isolation period to seven days from 10 days for people in England who get a negative result on a lateral flow test two days in a row.
* The World Health Organization’s European head warned countries to brace for a “significant surge” in cases and advised the widespread use of boosters for protection.
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would not be introducing new COVID-19 restrictions in England before Christmas.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison ruled out a Christmas lockdown, saying hospitals were coping well with a record surge in cases fuelled by Omicron.
* Japan has found its first suspected instance of community spread infection from the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the governor of Osaka prefecture said.
* One local case has forced Dongxing, a Chinese border city next to Vietnam, to order its residents to stay at home, halt public transport and some school classes and postpone the clearing of travellers and cargo to pass through its port of entry.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Israel will offer a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to people older than 60.
* The Iranian envoy to Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement has died of COVID-19, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* AstraZeneca said it is working with Oxford University to produce a vaccine for Omicron, joining other vaccine-makers who are looking to develop the variant-specific vaccine.
* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is set to authorise COVID-19 treatment pills from both Pfizer and Merck as early as Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian share markets were broadly up on Wednesday as the risk appetite of global investors rises heading into year-end, despite the surging number of Omicron cases worldwide. [MKTS/GLOB]
* China has the confidence, condition, and ability to keep economic growth at a reasonable level, a senior state planning official told the Xinhua News Agency.
(Compiled by Devika Syamnath and Aditya Soni; Edited by Maju Samuel and Shounak Dasgupta)
