(Reuters) – China is looking to retain its strict policies to curb COVID-19 infections even as global supply chains stare at a disruption from recent outbreaks in the country, while Hong Kong will begin easing some of its stringent restrictions from April 21.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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ASIA-PACIFIC
* China’s financial hub Shanghai reported over 27,000 coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new high, a day after President Xi Jinping said that the country must continue with its strict “dynamic COVID clearance” policy and pandemic control measures.
* China’s race to stop the spread of COVID-19 is clogging highways and ports, stranding workers, and shutting factories — disruptions rippling through global supply chains for goods ranging from electric vehicles to iPhones.
* Hong Kong confirmed it will ease some of the world’s most stringent restrictions, allowing beauty parlours, cinemas, and gyms to reopen from April 21, as infections in the global financial hub hover below 2,000 per day.
EUROPE
* Britain has approved Valneva’s COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first European country to clear the use of the French firm’s shot. It also approved the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in children between six and 11 years.
* Vaccines against COVID-19 have roughly halved the death toll from the disease in Italy, preventing some 150,000 fatalities and 8 million cases last year, the National Health Institute (ISS) estimated.
AMERICAS
* The U.S. State Department said it will sharply cut back on “Do Not Travel” advisories for international destinations after public health officials announced a change in how they will assess COVID-19 concerns.
* Canada has authorized British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc’s antibody-based therapy for preventing COVID-19 infections, giving itself another weapon against the disease as cases rise in the country.
* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it will revise its COVID-19 travel recommendations for international destinations and shrink the number of countries the government recommends avoiding.
AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
* Africa is experiencing its longest-running decline in weekly COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic, the World Health Organization said.
* Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy is set to grow 3.6% this year, down from 4% in 2021, the World Bank said, adding that the war in Ukraine would worsen the factors holding back Africa’s recovery from the pandemic.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* A third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech produced significant protection against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in healthy children ages 5 to 11, the companies said.
* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has extended by three months its review of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc’s application for the full approval of its COVID-19 antibody therapy, the U.S. drugmaker said.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Wall Street stocks fell, while bond yields and the dollar rose as investors worried that aggressive U.S. policy tightening could hurt the economy, while the European Central Bank signalled a steady reduction of stimulus. [MKTS/GLOB]
* China’s economic growth is likely to slow to 5.0% in 2022 amid renewed COVID-19 outbreaks and a weakening global recovery, a Reuters poll showed, raising pressure on the central bank to ease policy further.
(Compiled by Uttaresh.V and Vinay Dwivedi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Maju Samuel)
