(Reuters) – Australia’s Victoria state removed entry restrictions to citizens of neighbouring New South Wales on Friday, allowing almost blanket reciprocal travel between the country’s two biggest states ahead of the busy Christmas period.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* Vienna said it is banning people not vaccinated against COVID-19 from cafes, restaurants and events with more than 25 people, pre-empting measures that are likely to be introduced across Austria soon as infections are surging.
* Belgium reported a jump in COVID-19 infections and hospitalisations rose back to levels that had forced a lockdown in October 2020, as the United States advised against travelling to the host of EU and NATO headquarters.
* French health authorities reported 9,502 daily new COVID-19 infections, pushing the seven-day moving average of new cases to a six-week high.
AMERICAS
* New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration and unions representing over 70,000 workers reached a deal on a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, including on exemption requests and leave policies.
* American Airlines delayed the roll-out of a mandate that requires its U.S.-based employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus until Jan. 4, CEO Doug Parker said in a letter to employees.
* Chile’s presidential candidates had to host news conferences from home and cancel travel plans as five out of seven candidates were forced to isolate for a week after left-wing hopeful Gabriel Boric tested positive for COVID-19.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said she expected the border with mainland China to largely reopen next February as the two governments stick to their zero COVID-19 policies, public broadcaster RTHK reported.
* For many of the 40 million Filipinos under the age of 18, the pandemic has been a continuous lockdown because the government classifies children as a particularly vulnerable group for COVID-19, though few other countries do so.
* China reported 78 new confirmed coronavirus cases for Nov. 4 compared with 104 a day earlier, its health authority said on Friday.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* West and Central Africa could see a rise in HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths in a few years due to disruptions in health services because of the pandemic, the executive director of the U.N. AIDS agency said.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Britain became the first country in the world to approve a potentially game-changing COVID-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, in a boost to the fight against the pandemic.
* Vaccine developer Novavax Inc said it has completed the submission process for emergency-use listing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate with the World Health Organization.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Japan’s household spending fell in September as consumers remained cautious about the pandemic, backing broad consensus that the world’s third-largest economy shrank in the third quarter but pointing to an improvement towards year-end.
* U.S. job growth likely accelerated in October as the headwind from the surge in COVID-19 infections over the summer subsided, offering more evidence that economic activity was regaining momentum early in the fourth quarter.
* Indonesia’s economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter as restrictions to control COVID-19 weighed on activity, although recent data suggests growth may be getting back on track in the current quarter.
* Chinese markets dragged on Asian shares as they failed to latch on to a global record-setting rally after a week in which central banks around the world refrained from any hawkish surprises in a boost to the dollar. [MKTS/GLOB]
(Compiled by Sherry Jacob-Phillips; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta)
