(Reuters) – The New Zealand government on Thursday announced free masks and rapid antigen tests as it tries to stem the spread of COVID-19 and relieve pressure on the country’s health system which is dealing with an influx of COVID and influenza patients.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* Adapted versions of established mRNA COVID-19 vaccines that address two variants in one shot will soon offer people better protection than vaccines that are now available, a European health official said.
AMERICAS
* The Pan American Health Organization on Wednesday warned of the growing number of COVID-19 cases caused by the highly infectious BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants of the coronavirus even as overall cases dipped in the Americas.
* U.S. President Joe Biden will seek to reduce direct contact, such as shaking hands, during his visits to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week as part of enhanced COVID-19 precautions, White House officials said.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* A COVID-19 outbreak has meant full-scale closure for the former Portuguese colony’s six casinos – the only places in China where gambling is legal.
* Japan warned that a new wave of coronavirus cases appears to be rapidly spreading through the nation, calling on people to be especially careful ahead of an upcoming long weekend and imminent summer school vacations.
* Anxiety levels rose along with temperatures in Shanghai on Wednesday, as medical workers sweated beneath their hazmat suits while administering compulsory mass testing for COVID-19 in a city that recently emerged from a painful two-month lockdown.
AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
* OPEC expects global oil demand to rise in 2023 but at a slower pace than 2022, the producer group said in its first forecast for next year, citing still robust economic growth and progress in containing COVID-19 in China.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, clearing the way for a shot whose more traditional technology has raised hopes of wider acceptance among vaccine skeptics.
* Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE have sought approval from Japan’s health ministry for use of their COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged six months to four years, the companies said.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Oil prices rose on Thursday, with Brent breaking above $100 a barrel, as investors weighed tight supplies against the prospect of a large U.S. rate hike that would stem inflation and curb crude demand. [O/R]
* Lufthansa is cancelling an additional 2,000 flights from Frankfurt and Munich this summer, the German flagship carrier said on Wednesday, citing staffing shortages at airports as well as industrial action and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
(Compiled by Shailesh Kuber, Krishna Chandra Eluri and Olivier Sorgho; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Arun Koyyur and Sriraj Kalluvila)
