(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Australia welcomes the world back
Australia said on Monday it will reopen its borders to vaccinated travellers this month, ending two years of misery for the tourism sector, reviving migration and injecting billions of dollars into the economy.
The move effectively calls time on the last main component of Australia’s response to the pandemic, which it has attributed to relatively low death and infection rates. The other core strategy, stop-start lockdowns, was shelved for good in December.
China locks down city on Vietnam border
Authorities in China’s southwestern city of Baise ordered residents to stay at home from Monday and avoid unnecessary travel as they enforced curbs that are among the toughest in the nation’s tool-box to fight rising local infections.
The outbreak in Baise, which has a population of about 3.6 million and borders Vietnam, is tiny by global standards, but the curbs, including a ban on non-essential trips in and out, follow a national guideline to quickly contain any flare-ups.
Chinese researchers said restoring normal population mobility to “COVID-zero regions” like China will cause some 2 million deaths in a year and the key to controlling the virus is developing vaccines that are better at preventing infection.
Vietnam starts reopening schools
More than 17 million Vietnamese students were due to return to school on Monday for the first time in about a year, the health ministry said, as authorities announced plans to start vaccinating children from as young as five against COVID-19.
The Southeast Asian country lifted many of its coronavirus curbs in October, but almost all students had been confined to taking online classes since early last year.
Hong Kong residents rush to buy food as infections rise
Hong Kong residents crowded supermarkets and neighbourhood fresh food markets on Monday to stock up on vegetables, noodles and other necessities after a record number of infections in the city and transport disruptions at the border with mainland China.
The city of 7.5 million people reported a record 614 coronavirus cases on Monday, in the biggest test yet for the Chinese territory’s zero-COVID strategy.
Indonesia to tighten COVID curbs
Indonesia will tighten social restrictions in Jakarta and Bali, as well as in two other cities on Java island, in a bid to contain a spike in coronavirus infections, a senior cabinet minister said on Monday.
Separately, the transport ministry clarified that overseas tourists would still be able to enter the country through the capital Jakarta, after the ministry indicated otherwise in a statement issued on Sunday.
Japan to consider early approval for Shionogi COVID pill
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday the government would consider granting conditional early approval for the oral COVID-19 treatment being developed by Shionogi & Co, as the firm prepares to start a late-stage global trial.
Shionogi Chief Executive Isao Teshirogi told reporters that the company could file in Japan for early approval of the drug as soon as next week, and that it could deliver enough doses for 1 million people by the end of March.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday he wants to speed up the country’s COVID-19 booster shot programme to 1 million shots a day by the end of the month, about double the current pace.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes; Editing by Alison Williams)
