•Greece reported a primary budget deficit of 5.0% of economic output in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's statistics service said.
•A prolonged slowdown in China would have substantial global spillovers
Image: REUTERS
The United States government said on Thursday it was extending a requirement that non-U.S. citizens crossing land or ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders must be vaccinated against the coronavirus. read more
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
* Shanghai authorities said tough restrictions would remain in place for now even in districts which managed to cut COVID-19 transmission to zero, as the number of cases outside quarantined areas across the city rose again. read more
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a blow to his authority when lawmakers triggered an investigation into whether he had misled parliament in his initial responses to reports he and his staff broke COVID-19 lockdown rules. read more
* Child vaccination rates in the United States fell during the COVID-19 pandemic as many children skipped doctors appointments and states eased vaccine requirements during remote learning, according to a government study. read more
* Hospitals in Canada's most populous provinces are cancelling or postponing medical procedures in the face of another wave of the coronavirus pandemic, increasing backlogs of procedures that health practitioners say will take years to work through and could cost more lives. read more
* The U.S. Justice Department appealed a judge's ruling ending a mask mandate on public transportation and airplanes, after the CDC said the measure was still needed. read more
* Israel told its citizens they could stop wearing masks indoors, its second such revision after the measure was briefly dropped and then restored last year in response to a rise in cases. read more
* Moderna plans to submit an application to the U.S. health regulator for emergency use authorisation of its COVID-19 vaccine among children between the ages of six months to five years by end of the month, a company spokesperson said. read more
* A prolonged slowdown in China would have substantial global spillovers, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said, adding that Beijing has room to adjust policy to provide support. read more
* Greece reported a primary budget deficit of 5.0% of economic output in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's statistics service said.