(Reuters) – China on Tuesday slashed the quarantine time for inbound travellers by half, in a major easing of COVID-19 curbs that have deterred cross-border travel and resulted in international flights running at just 2% of pre-pandemic levels.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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ASIA-PACIFIC
* North Korea’s Kim Jong Un presided over another meeting of the ruling party to tighten discipline, state media said, as Pyongyang continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and gears up for potential flood damage from heavy rains.
* The Walt Disney Co’s Shanghai Disney Resort said it would reopen the Disneyland theme park on June 30, a month after the city lifted a two month-long COVID-19 lockdown.
EUROPE
* Ireland agreed to put the army on standby to help with security at Dublin airport should staffing be hit by a resurgence of COVID-19.
* Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr apologised to its employees and customers for travel chaos caused by labour shortages as demand has soared during the summer amid the lifting of restrictions.
* Britain has become an easier place to do business thanks in part to its response to the pandemic which provided more flexibility to employers, according to a survey.
* Matteo Berrettini, runner-up at last year’s Wimbledon, became the second top player to pull out of the championships, after testing positive for COVID-19.
AMERICAS
* A U.S. appeals court panel said on Monday it would convene a full panel to reconsider President Joe Biden’s executive order requiring civilian federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and set aside the order pending that hearing.
* The fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron are estimated to make up a combined 52% of the coronavirus cases in the United States as of June 25, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* U.S. regulators plan to decide by early July on whether to change the design of COVID-19 vaccines this autumn in order to combat more recent variants of the coronavirus, with hopes of launching a booster campaign by October, a top Food and Drug Administration official said.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Global shares were higher on Tuesday while oil prices firmed following China’s decision to ease some quarantine requirements for international arrivals that raised hopes for stronger growth and a revival in demand for commodities. [MKTS/GLOB]
* China’s economy has recovered to some extent, but its foundation is not solid, state media quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying. The economy showed signs of recovery in May after slumping the previous month as industrial production revived, but consumption remained weak and underlined the challenge for policymakers amid the persistent drag from strict COVID-19 curbs.
* European shares rose on Tuesday, led by commodity-linked stocks and automakers after China relaxed its quarantine mandate, with investors eyeing the European Central Bank’s (ECB) annual forum for clues on monetary policies.
(Compiled by Olivier Sorgho; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
