(Reuters) – China’s capital on Wednesday mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for most people to enter crowded venues such as libraries, cinemas and gyms, the first such move by Beijing which it coupled with a slight easing of domestic travel curbs.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
ASIA-PACIFIC
* The World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions event and the LPGA tournament in Shanghai, both scheduled for October, have been cancelled for a third consecutive year because of COVID-19 restrictions in China, officials said on Wednesday.
* Chinese capital Beijing reported three new local COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as of 3 p.m., a local health official said.
* Macau has locked down one of the city’s most famous hotels, the Grand Lisboa, after more than a dozen COVID-19 cases were found there on Tuesday, with infections spreading rapidly in the world’s biggest gambling hub.
EUROPE
* Cyprus ordered the reintroduction of face masks to combat COVID-19 on Wednesday, just over a month after scrapping the requirement, as infections spiked again.
AMERICAS
* Passengers boarding Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings ships won’t have to take COVID-19 tests from next month unless required by local law, the U.S. cruise operator said on Wednesday as the crucial summer sailing season gathers steam.
* The fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages of Omicron are estimated to make up a combined 70.1% of the coronavirus variants in the United States as of July 2, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.
AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
* The Israeli Health Ministry on Wednesday gave the green light for the vaccination of children between the ages of 6 months to five years against COVID-19.
* Mecca’s crowded streets provided merchants in the holy city with much-needed relief as pilgrims returned to the annual haj after two years of pandemic-related disruption.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday it authorized state-licensed pharmacists to prescribe Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 pill Paxlovid to eligible patients, in a bid to improve access to the treatment.
* AstraZeneca Plc’s antibody cocktail for COVID-19 prevention has been cleared for use in a medical tourism zone in China’s southern province of Hainan ahead of national approval, local media said on Tuesday.
* BioNTech is looking into taking legal steps against CureVac after the latter filed a patent lawsuit against it over its use of mRNA technology, BioNTech said on Wednesday, confirming a report by daily Welt.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Wall Street held steady while oil slid on Wednesday as investors juggled concerns over inflation versus a recession, after Federal Reserve minutes showed officials rallied around a large rate hike at its June meeting.[MKTS/GLOB]
(Compiled by Shailesh Kuber and Amy Caren Daniel; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Sriraj Kalluvila)
