(Reuters) – COVID-19 infections and deaths in the Americas are still increasing, but the rise in infections seems to be slowing in places hit earliest by the Omicron variant, the Pan American Health Organization said.
EUROPE
* France’s vaccine pass will remain in place until hospitals are able to function normally without cancelling non-emergency procedures to make room for COVID patients in intensive care, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Wednesday.
* Italy will soon announce a timetable to roll back its COVID-19 curbs, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday, as a surge in cases fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant started to slow.
* Germany will allow up to 10,000 spectators at major outdoor events such as Bundesliga soccer games, the 16 federal states agreed.
AMERICAS
* Major airlines, business and travel groups have urged the White House to end COVID-19 pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated international passengers travelling to the United States.
* Mexico topped 5 million total confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, registering 42,181 new cases and 573 new deaths, according to health ministry data.
* Brazil reported 172,903 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 893 deaths due to COVID-19, data from the Health Ministry showed on Wednesday.
* U.S. soldiers who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine will be immediately discharged, the U.S. Army said on Wednesday, saying the move was critical to maintain combat readiness.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* New Zealand on Thursday announced a phased reopening of its border that has been largely closed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but travel bodies said self-isolation rules need to be removed to revive the struggling tourism sector.
* A total of 55 new COVID-19 infections were found among Olympic Games-related personnel on Feb. 2, the chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel said on Thursday, the highest daily tally so far.
* Some of South Korea’s corporate giants have asked staff to test themselves for COVID-19 before returning to work on Thursday after the Lunar New Year holidays, amid concerns the break could fuel the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
* Though Omicron is causing proportionally fewer severe infections and deaths in Israel, daily caseloads skyrocketed past 80,000 in late January before easing in recent days.
* Nigeria launched a $149 million fund to help fight HIV/AIDS, especially targeting the prevention of mother-to-child transmissions, after foreign funding came under strain from the focus on COVID-19.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Germany’s expert panel on vaccine use is preparing to recommend a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose, the committee’s head, Thomas Mertens, told media group Funke on Thursday.
* The Spanish medicines agency said it had authorised pharmaceutical firm Hipra to carry out phase III trials of the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* The COVID-19 pandemic remains the biggest risk to the global economy, and is contributing to rising inflation in many countries, the chief of the International Monetary Fund said.
* A study by governing body UEFA showed the COVID-19 pandemic cost European clubs seven billion euros ($7.91 billion) across two seasons even as player wages at top sides rose by 2% to 11.9 billion euros ($13.45 billion) during the period.
(Compiled by Shailesh Kuber, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Alexander Kloss; Editing by David Gregorio, Anil D’Silva and Arun Koyyur)
