(Reuters) – Some parts of Shanghai and Beijing brought back a few COVID-19-related restrictions and delayed reopenings, while India saw its biggest jump in daily cases more than three months.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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ASIA-PACIFIC
* Parts of Shanghai began imposing new lockdown restrictions, with residents of sprawling Minhang district ordered to stay home for two days in a bid to control COVID-19 transmission risks.
* Shanghai Disney Resort said it will reopen some retail and park areas from Friday but the main Disneyland park, Disneytown and its two resort hotels will remain closed until further notice.
* All Nippon Airways will restore full domestic flight services to and from Tokyo’s Haneda airport starting next month to meet rising demand as Japan emerges from the pandemic.
* Beijing’s Chaoyang district, the city’s largest, has ordered that entertainment venues and internet cafes be shut from 2 p.m. (0600 GMT) on Thursday as the city tries to stamp out COVID-19 transmission.
* India reported 7,240 new infections in the last 24 hours, its highest number of daily cases since March 2.
* North Korea reported 50,860 new people showing fever symptoms amid the isolated nation’s first confirmed COVID-19 outbreak, state media KCNA said.
EUROPE
* Workers at France’s main Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris will strike on Thursday to demand better pay and working conditions, pointing to rising inflation, and working conditions during the pandemic, the CGT trade union said, as European airports struggle to deal with a sudden increase in travellers.
AMERICAS
* The Chilean economy will expand between 1.5% and 2.25% this year, after last year’s solid recovery from the pandemic, the country’s central bank said on Wednesday.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* An international agreement on waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines is within reach ahead of a global trade meeting next week, the head of the World Trade Organization said.
* Moderna Inc said a new version of its COVID-19 vaccine produced a better immune response against Omicron than the original shot.
* Shares of Novavax Inc surged on Wednesday after advisers to the Food and Drug Administration overwhelmingly backed the use of its COVID-19 vaccine.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Japan’s economy shrank slightly less than initially reported in the first quarter, as private consumption remained resilient in the face of resurgent COVID-19 infections and companies rebuilt their stock, offsetting a drop in business spending.
(Compiled by Dina Kartit, Shailesh Kuber and Uttaresh.V; Edited by Bill Berkrot and Shounak Dasgupta)
