(Reuters) – The Omicron variant is expected to infect over half of Europe’s population within the next six to eight weeks, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday, as the United States shattered the global record by reporting 1.35 million new COVID-19 cases in a day.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* China’s aviation regulator ordered the cancellation of over 60 scheduled flights from the United States in recent weeks after numerous passengers tested positive after arriving.
* China’s Tianjin said its latest outbreak had reached 49 confirmed cases by midday on Tuesday, as it battles the Omicron variant that has been detected in at least two other provinces.
* Vietnamese legislators approved a stimulus package worth nearly $15.4 billion for 2022-2023 to prop up the country’s pandemic-hit economy and support those impacted by restrictions.
* Nearly one million Hindu worshippers are expected to gather at the Ganges river this Friday and Saturday for a holy bathe despite galloping nationwide infections.
* Tennis champion Novak Djokovic on Tuesday warmed up for his bid to win next week’s Australian Open, but could still be deported as the government argues he did not adequately justify a medical exemption from vaccination needed to enter the country.
AMERICAS
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State Department advised against travel to neighboring Canada, and the Washington Post reported that it is considering recommending better masks.
* Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced he had contracted COVID-19 for a second time, saying he had a mild case and would keep working in isolation until he had recovered.
EUROPE
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under fire after it emerged his private secretary invited over 100 people to a “bring your own booze” party in the garden of Downing Street during the first lockdown.
* Poland’s reported deaths surpassed 100,000 on Tuesday, as the country struggles to convince people to get vaccinated despite persistently high infection rates.
* Bulgaria’s prime minister, president and several senior ministers have gone into precautionary self-isolation after a participant at a security meeting they attended tested positive.
* Porfirije, the 46th Patriarch of the influential Serbian Orthodox Church, has tested positive.
AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
* Gabon’s oil workers’ union and water and electricity workers’ union said they had begun a general strike in protest against COVID-19 restrictions and the cost of PCR tests.
* COVID-19 has depleted soccer teams competing in the Africa Cup of Nations, with Senegal playing with only 18 players available and Malawi with only four players on the bench – including two goalkeepers.
* Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said he had tested positive but was in good health.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Preliminary findings from two South African clinical trials suggest Omicron has a much higher rate of “asymptomatic carriage” than earlier variants, which could explain why it has spread so rapidly.
* Spain’s PharmaMar said trials made in vitro and on animals showed its Plitidepsin drug had positive antiviral effects on COVID-19 variants including Omicron.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Global stocks edged up and bond yields clung to recent highs on Tuesday as investors awaited U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s appearance before the Senate Banking Committee, hoping for clues on the timing of expected policy tightening. [GLOB/MKTS]
* Oil rose towards $82 a barrel, supported by tight supply and hopes that rising cases and the spread of Omicron will not derail a global demand recovery.
* Only one in 10 World Economic Forum members surveyed expects the global recovery to accelerate over the next three years, a poll of nearly 1,000 business, government and academic leaders found
(Compiled by Sarah Morland and Shailesh Kuber; Editing by Jan Harvey)
