Europe Covid surge continues, Australia preps for 4th shot: 10 global updates

European nations continue to witness a surge in coronavirus cases, making it clear that the world may not see an end to the pandemic soon.

China was also forced to bring back some of the toughest restrictions in the last few weeks as it battled one of the worst Covid spikes in two years – accelerated by the emergence of the more-transmissible BA.2 omicron strain. Australia has become the latest nation to join the countries rolling out the second booster vaccine shot in a bid to check the spread of virus, and protect those vulnerable.

Here’s a round-up of the Covid surge across the world in 10 points:

> French health authorities said the number of patients hospitalised for Covid-19 were down by over the last 24 hours to 20,616, news agency Reuters reported, but the number is still high on a week-on-week basis. France on Tuesday saw the biggest jump in new Covid-19 cases since February with 1.80 lakh new infections within a day. In the March 7-14 week, a weekly increase of 164,884 was registered.

> Italy reported 75,616 Covid-19 related cases on Friday, against 81,811 the day before. The number of deaths fell to 146 from 182 the previous day, according to Reuters.

>Germany’s health minister urged people over 60 years with risk factors such as high blood pressure or a weak heart to get a second booster shot to reduce their risk of getting seriously ill. In the March 7-14 week, Germany saw a weekly increase of 188,304 cases. According to DW news website, the country had reported over 300,000 cases for the first time on Thursday.

> Australia will also roll out a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines for its most vulnerable population starting next month, as the country looks to limit fresh outbreaks ahead of winter.

> Hong Kong will gradually resume public services from April 1, the government said on Friday, with the global financial hub posting its lowest number of daily infections in about a month, as per reports.

> The Hong Kong government departments said in a statement that they will return to normal service by April 21, part of a broader easing of strict coronavirus measures which have created widespread frustration for residents and businesses.

>China reported 1,366 confirmed coronavirus cases for March 24, the country’s national health authority said on Friday.

> Shanghai’s new Covid-19 cases jumped over 40% in a single day, hitting a fresh record on Friday, a report by Bloomberg said. The city’s approach to tackling coronavirus outbreaks is coming under strain as new cases rise in the Chinese metropolis.

> Though the number of cases in Shanghai remains small by global standards, the densely populated city has become a testing ground for China’s “zero-COVID” strategy as it tries to bring the highly infectious Omicron variant under control.

> Nearly a year after Covid vaccines became freely available in the US, one fourth of American adults remain unvaccinated, Reuters reported. Costs of going unvaccinated in America are mounting for workers and companies, health experts told the news agency.