(Reuters) – Shanghai authorities on Tuesday began dismantling fences around housing compounds and ripping police tape off public squares and buildings, to the relief of the city’s 25 million residents, before a painful two-month lockdown is lifted at midnight.
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.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* China’s tourism authority said it eased a rule on suspending certain tourism trips in areas where COVID-19 cases are found, part of the country’s effort to make its virus response more targeted.
* Mainland China reported 174 new coronavirus cases on May 30, of which 50 were symptomatic and 124 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said.
* North Korea reported 96,020 more people showing fever symptoms and no additional deaths amid the country’s first confirmed coronavirus outbreak, state media KCNA said.
EUROPE
* The World Health Organization’s governing board agreed on Monday to form a new committee to help speed up its response to health emergencies like COVID-19.
* Conservative lawmaker Jeremy Wright, a former British minister and attorney general, said on Monday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson should resign, joining a growing number of MPs who have withdrawn their support over the “partygate” scandal.
AMERICAS
* Use of Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid spiked last week, but some doctors are reconsidering the pills for lower-risk patients after a U.S. public health agency warned that symptoms can recur after people complete a course of the drug, and that they should then isolate a second time.
AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
* Fears over the possible side effects and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines have been the main drivers of hesitancy among thousands of South Africans, a government-backed online survey showed.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The World Health Organization said it does not believe the monkeypox outbreak outside Africa will lead to a pandemic as the United Nation’s health agency considers whether the outbreak should be assessed as a “potential public health emergency of international concern”, as was done for COVID-19 and Ebola.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Japan’s factories posted a sharp fall in output in April as China’s COVID-19 lockdowns and wider supply disruptions took a heavy toll on manufacturers, clouding the outlook for the trade-reliant economy.
* China’s factory activity fell at a slower pace in May as COVID-19 curbs in major manufacturing hubs were relaxed, but movement controls continued to weigh on demand and production, raising doubts about economic growth in the second quarter.
* China’s services activity shrank less sharply in May, an official survey showed on Tuesday, as COVID-19 restrictions in some cities were relaxed.
* Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, said on Tuesday that the second half of the year is heading “in a better direction” as Shanghai’s COVID-19 lockdown appears to be easing.
(Compiled by Shailesh Kuber and Olivier Sorgho; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Sriraj Kalluvila)
