* China has launched a digital vaccination certificate for its citizens planning cross-border travels, joining other countries issuing similar documents as they seek ways to reopen their economies.
* Cuba has spent more than US$150 million on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil said here Tuesday. So far, Cuba has registered 57,607 COVID-19 cases with 352 deaths.
* India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 11,262,707 on Wednesday as 17,921 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry. According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 158,063 with 133 new deaths.
* The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) reported on Wednesday 2,886 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the Southeast Asian country’s total tally to 603,308. The death toll climbed to 12,545 after 17 more patients died from the coronavirus epidemic, the DOH said.
* Malaysia’s international tourist arrivals in 2020 plunged 83.4 percent to 4.33 million from 26.1 million in 2019, as COVID-19 pandemic hit the tourism market. Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board or Tourism Malaysia said in a statement Wednesday that Malaysia’s tourist receipts also plummeted 85.3 percent to MYR12.69 billion (about US$3.07 billion) in 2020, from MYR86.14 billion in 2019.
* The United States reported a 12% decline in new cases of COVID-19 last week, while vaccinations accelerated to a record 2.2 million shots per day, according to a Reuters analysis of state, county and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
* The European Commission said it had reached a deal with drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech for the supply of an additional four million coronavirus vaccine doses, while European Council President Charles Michel rejected charges of “vaccine nationalism” levelled against the EU.
* German expert panel head says he would back Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine as Europe cautiously weighs its production and usage.
* Mexico is turning to China to fill a vaccine shortfall with an order for 22 million doses, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said, a week after US President Joe Biden ruled out sharing vaccines with Mexico in the short term.
* Johnson & Johnson has told Canada many times it is having challenges making its vaccine, which Ottawa approved only last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
* The pace of Australia’s COVID-19 immunisation drive is not a cause for concern and the programme will be completed by the end of October, authorities said, as the country finished administering more than 100,000 first doses.
* South Africa’s business confidence slipped in the first quarter of this year, despite easing COVID-19 curbs, a survey showed.
* Pakistan on Wednesday began vaccinating its people aged 60 years and over against COVID-19, according to Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Faisal Sultan.
* The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a roadmap to navigate the digital transition of the European Union by 2030, setting a number of targets from developing a quantum compter to accelerating the rollout of 5G networks.
* Greece aspires to reopen tourism on May 14, as long as the epidemiological situation allows it, Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis said Tuesday.
* German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized on Tuesday the importance of expanding both the country’s renewable energies and broadband network.
* The vaccination campaign is starting to bear fruit in Belgium, where the number of deaths and infection rates are beginning to drop. Belgium has so far recorded 798,008 cases of COVID-19 infections and 22,292 deaths since the beginning of the epidemic.
* Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis will leave on Wednesday for Israel to discuss with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on vaccination strategy, vaccine production and the experiences in fighting COVID-19, according to a press release from Babis’ office on Tuesday.
* The World Bank has approved US$120 million for a project to help Bangladesh enhance climate resilience and productivity of irrigated agriculture and fisheries.
* Zimbabwe has authorised the emergency use of four COVID-19 vaccines, including Russia’s Sputnik V and China’s Sinovac.
* BioNTech could have capacity to make 3 billion doses of the vaccine it developed with partner Pfizer next year.
