(Reuters) – Australia suffered its deadliest day of the pandemic on Tuesday as a fast-moving Omicron outbreak continued to push up hospitalisation rates to record levels, even as daily infections eased slightly.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* Poland is in the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, its health minister said, adding that he expected the country to report over 20,000 daily cases on Tuesday and a peak of 60,000 in mid-February.
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wishes he had not attended a “bring your own booze” gathering in Downing Street during Britain’s first lockdown and understands the public’s anger, the education secretary said.
* Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic faces more immediate hurdles in his bid to overtake Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, with whom he is tied on 20 major titles, as he could be barred from the French Open as things stand.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Thailand is considering bringing back a quarantine waiver for vaccinated visitors, its health minister said, as part of a proposed easing of some measures later this week.
* The Chinese municipality of Tianjin reported fewer COVID-19 cases as its outbreak showed early signs of easing, while the daily case count in the city of Anyang hit a record.
* Tickets for the Winter Olympics will be distributed to “targeted” groups of people and will not be sold to the general public, the organising committee said.
* Hong Kong police said they have arrested and charged two former flight attendants over allegations they broke the city’s coronavirus rules.
* Japan’s western prefecture of Osaka will record about 6,000 new infections on Tuesday, the Kyodo news agency said, far surpassing the previous all-time high of 3,760 set on the weekend.
AMERICAS
* Canada approved Pfizer’s oral antiviral treatment for mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 in adults, but said global supply shortages meant only a few doses would be ready now.
AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
* Israel’s Health Ministry said it would shorten the mandatory isolation period for those who test positive for COVID-19 to five days from seven days.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* A fourth shot of COVID-19 vaccine boosts antibodies to even higher levels than the third jab, but it likely is not enough to prevent Omicron infections, according to a preliminary study in Israel.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asia’s share markets were mostly higher even as global investor attention remains fixed on the prospect of U.S rate hikes in the next few months, after two years of unprecedented pandemic-induced policy easing. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Frantic oil buying driven by supply outages and signs the Omicron variant won’t be as disruptive as feared has pushed some crude grades to multi-year highs, traders said.
(Compiled by Uttaresh.V, Juliette Portala and Marta Frackowiak; Edited by Milla Nissi and Shounak Dasgupta)
