China's financial hub Shanghai reported a record daily surge in local Covid-19 infections on Monday, as the country faces one of its worst outbreaks since the start of the pandemic.
The city also closed Shanghai Disneyland to visitors starting on Monday. It did not say how long the theme park would be shut.
According to official data, Shanghai reported 24 new domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms for Sunday and 734 local asymptomatic infections.
"When it comes to the entire situation of epidemic control and prevention that we are facing, it is very complex and serious, and it is also a very big test for us," said Wu Jinglei, the city's health official.
In total, Chinese health authorities reported over 2,000 new symptomatic Covid-19 cases on Sunday. Nearly 2,500 asymptomatic cases were reported.
Asia
Hong Kong loosened one of the world's toughest Covid-19 restrictions as it announced the resumption of international flights from the United States, Britain, and seven other countries from April.
"The epidemic situations in those countries are not worse than Hong Kong's, and most arrivals did not have serious symptoms," said Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam.
She said the flight ban — referred to as "circuit-breaker" — will be lifted for nine countries starting April 1.
South Korea will buy 10 million doses of the country's first experimental coronavirus vaccine, developed by SK Bioscience co ltd.
The vaccine candidate, codenamed "GBP510," has completed its phase 3 trial since August last year. It was jointly developed with the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design and aided by pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
India is considering making booster shots of the vaccine available to all adults, according to sources quoted by Reuters news agency.
So far, only frontline workers and those above the age of 60 are eligible for booster shots.
Europe
Germany's federal health minister, Karl Lauterbach, defended the relaxation of Covid measures that came into effect on Sunday.
"Since people in the omicron wave can protect themselves through masks and through vaccinations, one must not restrict freedoms as much as before," Lauterbach told German daily Tagesspiegel.
The easing of rules, he said, was a "legal, not a pandemic assessment," adding the mask requirement remained in place in most states until April 2.
The United Kingdom started offering a fourth vaccine dose from on Monday, the National Health Service (NHS) has announced.
The second booster shot would be given to nursing home residents, people aged 75 and above, and those aged 12 and older with immune deficiencies. This makes about five million people eligible for the fourth shot.
Health Minister Sajid Javid said those over 75 and those most at risk will be offered a "spring booster" which would "increase their protection against the virus."
