(Reuters) – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday there were no plans for a citywide lockdown in the global financial hub but “surrendering to the virus” was not an option as authorities battle a surge of COVID-19 infections.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* Coronavirus case numbers have slightly dropped in Germany, as the government plans to loosen restrictions.
* Sweden’s Health Agency recommended that people aged 80 or above should receive a second booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine, the fourth jab in total.
AMERICAS
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised against travel to six countries and territories including South Korea, Azerbaijan and Belarus due to widespread COVID-19.
* Washington, D.C. will no longer require people show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter many businesses beginning on Tuesday, its mayor said, joining a slew of local leaders who are dialling back pandemic restrictions as the Omicron wave ebbs.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Thousands of nurses in Australia’s most populous state walked off the job for the first time in nearly a decade to begin a 24-hour strike after talks with the government to plug staff shortages and secure a pay rise failed.
* A major Chinese high-tech industry centre limited some highway access after detecting new COVID-19 cases, while epidemic control measures, including mass testing, affected the local operations of overseas firms such as Robert Bosch GmbH. AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
* Kuwait’s cabinet has lifted many COVID-19 restrictions including a ban on foreign travel, a move that will also apply to those who are not vaccinated.
* Tourism in Turkey is set to return to near pre-pandemic levels this year, boosting the crisis-hit economy with the help of a recent currency crash that has made it a more attractive destination than ever, industry officials say. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The immune response to COVID-19 helps protect against reinfection, but that protection is weaker against Omicron than it was against earlier variants of the coronavirus, according to new data.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Japan’s economy rebounded in the final three months of 2021 as falling coronavirus cases helped prop up consumption, though rising raw material costs and a spike in new Omicron variant infections cloud the outlook.
* The economy in Australia did hit a speed bump in January as the rapid spread of the Omicron variant curbed consumer mobility, but spending has since recovered as cases levelled off.
* The Philippine central bank will wait until the end of the year before raising interest rates from a record low 2.0% to support an uneven economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, a Reuters poll found.
(Compiled by Sherry Jacob-Phillips; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
