Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 500 million on April 14, according to a Reuters tally, as the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron surges in many countries in Europe and Asia.
Coronavirus infections in Asia passed 100 million on March 30, according to a Reuters tally, as the region records a resurgence in cases dominated by the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant.
A sub-variant of the highly transmissible Omicron version of coronavirus known as BA.2 is now dominant worldwide, prompting surges in many countries in Europe and Asia and raising concern over the potential for a new wave in the United States.
China’s financial hub of Shanghai launched a two-stage lockdown of its 26 million residents on March 28, closing bridges and tunnels and restricting highway traffic in a scramble to contain surging COVID-19 cases.
China’s financial hub of Shanghai said on March 27 it would lock down the city in two stages to carry out COVID-19 testing over a nine-day period, after reporting a new daily record for asymptomatic infections.
A year after infection with the coronavirus – when antibodies in the blood are barely detectable – the immune system continues to “remember” the virus and should respond to some extent upon re-encountering it, a study from China suggests. According to new research, women who were pregnant during the recent Omicron surge had more than eight times the rate of COVID-19 diagnoses, but lower odds of severe illness compared with pregnant women diagnosed earlier in the pandemic.
Shanghai’s bespoke approach to tackling coronavirus outbreaks is coming under strain as new cases rise in the Chinese metropolis, with authorities reluctant to impose a comprehensive lockdown as other cities have done.
Hong Kong reported 13,074 new coronavirus infections and 201 deaths on March 24, slightly higher than 12,240 infections the previous day.
Mainland China reported its first COVID-19 deaths in more than a year on March 19, according to a post on the National Health Commission’s website that said two people died in the northeastern region of Jilin.
Hong Kong reported more than 20,000 new coronavirus cases on March 18 as health experts called for a clear way out of a “zero COVID” policy that has left the city isolated.
