Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) – Individuals enrolled within the U.S. authorities’s Medicare program can get over-the-counter COVID-19 exams at no cost beginning early spring, the Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Companies mentioned on Thursday.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon customers, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and abstract of stories.

EUROPE

* Germany’s well being consultants are divided over whether or not the nation is able to ease COVID-19 restrictions as its neighbours begin dialling again curbs.

* The cumulative complete for confirmed COVID-19 circumstances in France because the begin of the pandemic has handed 20 million, well being ministry information confirmed.

* Austria’s higher home of parliament handed a invoice to make coronavirus vaccines obligatory for adults, bringing the European Union’s first such sweeping vaccine mandate a step nearer.

AMERICAS

* American Categorical Co mentioned on Thursday it might ask its New York staff to work from their workplaces at the least as soon as every week from subsequent month. Financial institution of New York Mellon Corp can be asking its staff to return to workplace from March 7 in areas the place situations permit.

* The Canadian authorities won’t use troops towards truckers whose almost week-long protest of vaccine mandates has introduced site visitors in central Ottawa to a halt, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned on Thursday.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Australia may use its defence forces to assist handle a COVID-19 outbreak within the aged-care sector that has stretched staffing and compelled many properties into lockdowns, the prime minister mentioned on Friday, as nationwide an infection numbers remained on a downtrend.

* A complete of 21 new COVID-19 infections had been discovered amongst Olympic Video games-related personnel on Feb. 3, down from 55 a day earlier, Video games organisers mentioned forward of Friday’s opening ceremony.

* South Korea prolonged COVID-19 social distancing guidelines on Friday for a further two weeks as Omicron variant infections soar, together with a 9 p.m. curfew for eating places and a six-person restrict on personal gatherings.

* India’s demise toll from COVID-19 crossed 500,000 on Friday, a stage many well being consultants say was breached final 12 months however obscured by inaccurate surveys and unaccounted useless within the hinterlands, the place thousands and thousands stay susceptible to the illness.

* Malaysia kicked off a mass vaccination programme for kids aged between 5 and 11.

* Hong Kong mentioned it might lengthen a work-from-home plan for civil servants as well being officers warned more durable measures may observe amid a worsening outbreak.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

* South Africa’s Afrigen Biologics has used the publicly obtainable sequence of Moderna Inc’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to make its personal model of the shot, which might be examined in people earlier than the top of this 12 months, Afrigen’s prime government mentioned.

* Saudi Arabia mentioned residents might be required to take the booster shot to have the ability to journey overseas beginning Feb. 9, state media reported.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Novavax Inc mentioned on Thursday its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine had obtained provisional approval from New Zealand’s medicines regulator to be used in adults.

* Britain authorized Novavax’s two-dose COVID-19 vaccine to be used in adults, bringing a fifth coronavirus shot to the nation amid the speedy unfold of the Omicron variant that has led to a spike in circumstances.

* The costs of medication used to deal with COVID-19 for these vulnerable to severe sickness are “moderately aligned” with how a lot they assist sufferers, in keeping with a draft report from the Institute for Medical and Financial Evaluate.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian fairness markets fought for a footing, supported by an Amazon-led bounce in U.S futures, however oil’s rise to a seven-year excessive stored merchants on edge over prospects that rates of interest will rise to curb world inflationary pressures. [MKTS/GLOB]

* U.S. job progress seemingly slowed sharply in January as COVID-19 infections lashed the nation, disrupting exercise at high-contact enterprise, a brief setback to the labor market restoration that was already reversing on the finish of the month.

(Compiled by Shailesh Kuber, Krishna Chandra Eluri and Juliette Portala; Enhancing by John Stonestreet, Nick Macfie and Arun Koyyur)