(Reuters) – Shanghai, China’s most populous city, on Tuesday again tightened the first phase of a two-stage COVID-19 lockdown, asking some residents to stay indoors unless they are getting tested as the number of daily cases rose beyond 4,400.
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.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Hong Kong private home prices dropped at a faster pace in February to their lowest since January 2021, official data showed on Tuesday, as the Asian financial hub was hit by a new wave of COVID-19 infections.
* China’s Shanghai on Tuesday said it would roll out policies to help the local economy cope with a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city, including offering refunds that will reduce firms’ tax burdens by 140 billion yuan ($22 billion) in 2022.
* Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tested positive for COVID-19 but feels well and will work while self-isolating at home, his office said.
EUROPE
* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday he did not agree with a planned intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines as patents are a crucial way of encouraging companies to continue pushing ahead with new research.
* Italy reported 30,710 COVID-19 related cases on Monday, against 59,555 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths rose to 95 from 82.
* London’s Metropolitan Police is expected to issue the first fines for breaching a COVID-19 lockdown at No. 10 Downing Street, The Guardian reported on Monday citing government insiders.
AMERICAS
* Brazilian health regulator Anvisa recommended on Monday that COVID-19 travel restrictions be eased due to a drop in cases and deaths, requiring only full vaccination and doing away with quarantine for unvaccinated travellers.
* Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Monday that he had “supposedly” tested positive for COVID-19, with no major symptoms.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Pfizer’s oral COVID-19 therapy will be evaluated as a potential treatment for patients hospitalised with the illness in a major British trial, scientists said on Monday, as cases rise in some parts of the world.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Japanese shares led gains in Asian stocks on Tuesday as the Bank of Japan defended its ultra-easy stance, while oil slid on fears of lower demand from China as Shanghai applied a “zero-COVID” strategy by locking down despite a relatively modest caseload. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered his cabinet to put together a fresh relief package by the end of April to cushion the economic blow from rising fuel and raw material prices.
* British finance minister Rishi Sunak defended the tax cuts he announced last week, after they were widely criticised for not helping the poorest households through the most severe hit to living standards since at least the 1950s.
(Compiled by Rashmi Aich and Shailesh Kuber; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Anil D’Silva)
