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BEIJING (Reuters) – Around 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID-19, UK-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday, nearly doubling its estimate from a week ago, as infections ripped across the world’s most populous nation. COVID infections started to sweep across China in November, picking up pace this month after …

China COVID deaths accelerate to 9,000 a day – UK research firm Airfinity Read More »

By Farah Master and Twinnie Siu HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong has asked Japan to withdraw a COVID-19 restriction that allows passenger flights from the financial hub to land only at four designated airports, saying the decision would affect about 60,000 passengers. India, Italy, Taiwan and the United States require mandatory COVID-19 tests on …

Hong Kong asks Japan to drop airport bans, 60,000 travellers affected Read More »

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s Health Security Committee called an urgent meeting in Brussels on Thursday to coordinate the bloc’s response to China’s decision to lift its COVID-19 restrictions amid a wave of infections there, the European Commission said. Chinese hospitals and funeral homes were under intense pressure as a surge of new COVID-19 …

EU health officials seek joint stance on measures towards China Read More »

SEOUL (Reuters) -A large fire on a South Korean expressway on Thursday killed at least five people and injured nearly 40 caught in heavy traffic, emergency officials and media said. Video images on social media showed a soundproof awning engulfed in flames soon after the fire broke out on the Second Gyeongin Expressway near the …

Fire on South Korean highway kills five, injures dozens Read More »

By Casey Hall and Bernard Orr SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s sprawling and thinly resourced countryside is racing to beef up medical facilities before hundreds of millions of factory workers return to their families for the Lunar New Year holiday next month from cities where COVID-19 is surging. Having imposed the world’s strictest COVID regime of lockdowns …

China’s vast countryside in rush to bolster COVID defences Read More »

By Chayut Setboonsarng, Xinghui Kok and Stella Qiu BANGKOK/SINGAPORE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian countries are bracing for an influx of Chinese tourists as COVID restrictions are dismantled, and while some are wary, operators in others are preparing packages such as hotpot buffets to cash in on the expected spike in travel. Chinese tourists will no longer …

Asia’s tourist hotspots prepare for boom as China relaxes COVID rules Read More »