Daily COVID Tracker: Global COVID cases surpass 500m

The number of COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide has surpassed 500m. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Friday.

Worldwide COVID cases surpass 500m

Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 500 million on Thursday as the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron surges in many countries in Europe and Asia.

According to Reuters, South Korea leads the world in the daily average number of new cases, reporting more than 182,000 new infections a day and accounting for one in every four infections globally.

New cases are also rising in 20 out of more than 240 countries and territories, including Taiwan, Thailand and Bhutan.

South Korea to lift most COVID curbs next week

South Korea says it will drop most COVID-19-related restrictions next week.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said from April 18, the midnight curfew on restaurants and other businesses will be scrapped, along with the restriction on private gatherings which was set at 10.

The government will also allow rallies and other events with 300 or more people, while removing a 70 percent limit on capacity at religious facilities.

On wearing masks outdoors, the prime minister said the government will review whether to lift the existing restriction in two weeks, depending on the virus situation.

Hong Kong to ease COVID restrictions from April 21

Hong Kong says it will ease its COVID-19 restrictions, allowing beauty parlours, cinemas and gyms to reopen from April 21.

The government said on Thursday that up to four people could gather at any time from April 21, and restaurants could stay open until 10pm.

Schools are also due to resume face-to-face classes from next week. Bars, beaches and barbeque sites remain closed.

UK gives first European approval to Valneva COVID vaccine

UK has approved Valneva’s COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first European country to clear the use of the French firm’s shot.

Announcing the approval, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) said it was the first, whole-virus inactivated COVID-19 vaccine to gain approval in the UK, adding the shot met safety, quality and effectiveness standards.

The French company said it was in discussions to supply up to 25,000 doses to the UK’s National Health Service and frontline workers in Scotland.

Booster dose increases protection against Omicron in kids aged five to 11, says Pfizer

Pfizer says a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine produced significant protection against the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in healthy children ages five to 11.

The company said serum analysis of 30 pediatric participants who received a booster dose in a study showed a 36-fold increase in Omicron neutralising antibodies.

Neutralising antibodies against the original version of the virus for which the vaccine was designed rose six-fold following the booster shot.