(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Shanghai cuts some tourism trips on COVID-19 cases
The eastern Chinese financial hub of Shanghai suspended some tourism activities on Friday as part of its efforts to head off a handful of sporadic new local transmissions, while it also faces an increase in COVID-19 infections from overseas.
Shanghai’s tourism and culture authority said travel agencies and online tourism companies must once again halt organising group tours between Shanghai and other provinces, regions or municipalities, after the city reported five new domestically transmitted infections on Thursday, all linked to a previous arrival from overseas.
China’s Andon Health to supply at-home tests to U.S.
China’s Andon Health Co Ltd said on Friday it has signed a contract worth $1.28 billion with the U.S. Army Contracting Command to supply COVID-19 self-test kits.
Andon Health’s unit iHealth Labs Inc has agreed to provide at-home coronavirus antigen test kits that can serve 250 million people, the company said in a stock exchange filing. The U.S. Army Contracting Command signed the contract on behalf of the country’s Department of Health and Human Services, Andon Health said.
Poorer nations reject over 100 million COVID-19 shots
Poorer nations last month rejected more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the global programme COVAX, mainly due to their rapid expiry date, a UNICEF official said on Thursday.
Poorer nations have also been forced to delay supplies because they have insufficient storage facilities, said Etleva Kadilli, director of Supply Division at U.N. agency UNICEF, including a lack of fridges for vaccines.
U.S. Supreme Court blocks Biden vaccine-or-test policy for large businesses
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses – a policy the conservative justices deemed an improper imposition on the lives and health of many Americans – while endorsing a separate federal vaccine requirement for healthcare facilities.
In a statement, Biden said the court’s decision allowing the healthcare worker mandate “will save lives” and his administration will enforce it. Workers must be vaccinated by the end of February.
So long, Toronto: Pandemic hastens Canada’s urban exodus
Canada’s urban exodus picked up steam into the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with tens of thousands of people leaving Toronto and Montreal for smaller cities or rural areas, official data showed on Thursday.
That has helped drive a nationwide housing boom, with prices rising more sharply in suburbs and small towns than in urban centres, fueling worries locals could be priced out and putting pressure on municipal services.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Kim Coghill)
