Mainland China reported more than 1,500 new local COVID-19 infections on March 12, the most since the first nationwide outbreak in early 2020, as the Omicron variant prompted Beijing to introduce self-testing kits for the first time.
New COVID-19 infections in France rose by more than 25% on March 11 compared to one week earlier after rising more than 24% on March 10, as a downward trend that had started late January reversed.
South Korea reported a new record daily high of 383,665 COVID-19 cases, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on March 12, amid a surge of Omicron infections.
Five Chinese companies face potential delisting from Wall Street if they fail to comply with new audit orders from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has left drugmakers scrambling to find ways for patients enrolled in clinical trials there to receive their medicines as millions seek shelter from bombardment and flee to neighboring countries.
Asia passed the grim milestone of 1 million coronavirus-linked deaths on March 11, a Reuters tally showed, as a spike in Omicron variant infections spreads across the region after starting in nations such as Japan and South Korea.
Hybrid versions of the coronavirus that combine genes from the Delta and Omicron variants – dubbed “Deltacron” – have been identified in at least 17 patients in the United States and Europe, researchers said. Additionally, new research adds to evidence that trained dogs could help screen crowds to identify people infected with the coronavirus.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on March 9 said COVID-19 cases fell by 26 percent across the Americas during the previous week while deaths from the virus dropped by nearly 19 percent, but cautioned that some effective measures to curb infections should be maintained.
The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron was estimated to be 11.6% of the coronavirus variants circulating in the United States as of March 5, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on March 8.
Bristol Myers Squibb’s blockbuster cancer drug Revlimid finally has a competitor as Teva Pharmaceuticals announced the launch of a generic version of Revlimid, which could significantly cut into the global biopharmaceutical company’s earnings.
