Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus
(Reuters) - The United States will end a sweeping, pandemic-related expulsion policy that has effectively closed down the U.S. asylum system at the border with Mexico, U.S. health officials said, arguing it was no longer needed to protect public health.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* The prevalence of the virus among people in England rose in the week ending March 26 to its highest since the pandemic began, data showed.
* Italy began to phase out its COVID-19 restrictions, ending a state of emergency public authorities declared more than two years ago that allowed it to bypass bureaucracy and swiftly impose rules via decrees.
AMERICAS
* The pandemic's grip on the U.S. job market notably loosened in March, two years after a state of emergency was declared, as the number of people homebound by COVID-19 concerns hit a new low and fewer people reported having to work remotely.
* U.S. Senate negotiators on Thursday were nearing a deal on a $10 billion COVID-19 bill to help the federal government acquire more vaccines and medical supplies as it prepares for future variants of the virus.
* Canada is in a period of transition and could see a resurgence of coronavirus infections this spring, health officials said Friday, adding that hospitalizations due to COVID-19 could rise in the coming weeks due to a recent increase in disease activity.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* China's commercial hub of Shanghai ground to a halt after the government locked down most of the city's 26 million residents to stop the spread of COVID-19, even as official numbers put local cases falling for the second day in a row.
* Malaysia has fully reopened its borders, dropping quarantine requirements for people vaccinated against COVID-19 after two years of strict travel restrictions.
* South Korea said it would further relax its social distancing rules next week and possibly scrap most pandemic-related curbs later this month, including an obligation to wear masks outdoors.
* India's Bharat Biotech said on Friday it was slowing down the production of COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, as demand was dropping along with a fall in infections and wider immunisation coverage in the country.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The world's first "human challenge" trial in which volunteers were deliberately exposed to the coronavirus has found that symptoms had no effect on how likely an infected person is to pass the disease on to others.
* Although people who recover from COVID-19 usually gain some immune defenses against reinfection, they get additional protection from vaccines, especially against severe disease, according to two studies published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Government bond yields resumed their upward climb on Friday on signs of persistent price pressures, as world shares whipsawed in choppy trade and oil prices braced for a 13% weekly fall following reserve releases.
* More than half of U.S. multinational companies in China have reduced their annual revenue projections, mostly due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, according to a survey.
* China's factory activity slumped at the fastest pace in two years in March, as the domestic COVID-19 resurgence and the economic fallout from the Ukraine war triggered sharp falls in production and demand, a business survey showed on Friday.
* Mexico's manufacturing sector contracted for the 25th month in a row in March, amid rising inflation, global shortages of materials, and economic uncertainty due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, a survey showed on Friday.
(Compiled by Devika Syamnath, Valentine Baldassari and Rashmi Aich; Edited by Anil D'Silva, Arun Koyyur and Shounak Dasgupta)
