(Reuters) – Singapore said on Thursday it will lift quarantine requirements for all vaccinated travellers from next month, joining a string of countries in Asia moving more firmly toward a “living with the virus” approach.
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.
AMERICAS
* The chief executives of American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other carriers urged U.S. President Joe Biden to end a federal mask mandate on airplanes and international pre-departure testing requirements.
EUROPE
* Poland’s parliament will try to thrash out a compromise on Wednesday over reforms to the Supreme Court that could unlock 36 billion euros of EU COVID-recovery grants and loans being withheld due to a dispute over judicial independence.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* New daily COVID-19 cases in the Chinese commercial hub of Shanghai remained close to 1,000 on Thursday as authorities scrambled to identify and isolate asymptomatic infections, though a leading expert said the outbreak was being contained.
* China reported 2,054 new confirmed coronavirus cases on March 23, the country’s national health authority said on Thursday, down from 2,667 a day earlier.
AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
* Tunisia greeted the first cruise ship since 2019 on Wednesday and expects 40 this year in a revival of tourism after the coronavirus pandemic.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Europe’s drug regulator is expected to give the go-ahead this week for AstraZeneca’s antibody-based injection for preventing COVID-19 infections, two people familiar with the review said, following U.S. and UK approvals.
* People may be at increased risk for developing diabetes for up to a year after a diagnosis of COVID-19, according to two studies.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares fell on Thursday, while the sell-off in U.S. Treasuries paused and oil prices rose, as investors and traders weighed the latest developments in the Ukraine war and more hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials.
* Japan’s manufacturing activity sped up in March from the prior month as a reduction in COVID-19 cases in the country helped lift orders and production, however, surging input prices and Russia’s war in Ukraine clouded the outlook.
* Irish consumer confidence suffered its sharpest monthly drop since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as concerns around the conflict in Ukraine and soaring inflation weighed heavily on sentiment, a survey showed on Thursday.
* Argentina’s economy expanded 10.3% in 2021 and 8.6% in the final quarter of the year, the country’s statistics agency said, as coronavirus pandemic restrictions were eased.
(Compiled by Sherry Jacob-Phillips; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
