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(Reuters) – Shanghai sprung back to life on Wednesday after two months of bitter isolation under a ruthless COVID-19 lockdown, with people driving cars again or cramming into trains and buses to go back to work, hoping to never go through a similar ordeal again.
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.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* North Korea has made progress in its fight against drought, and rice planting is under way nationwide even as the country ramps up efforts to tame its unprecedented coronavirus wave, state media said.
* Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is being tested for COVID-19 after developing a fever, news agency Kyodo reported, citing multiple unnamed sources.
* Mainland China reported 131 new coronavirus cases for May 31, of which 35 were symptomatic and 96 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.
EUROPE
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing the growing threat of a confidence vote as two more lawmakers suggested they had lost faith in his government over the “partygate” scandal and a former party leader said he could be challenged next week.
* Swiss drugs regulator Swissmedic said it is reviewing an application from pharmaceutical company Pfizer for a new dosage recommendation for a COVID-19 booster shot for children.
AMERICAS
* The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to overturn a U.S. District Court judge’s April order that declared the government mandate requiring masks on airplanes, buses and in transit hubs unlawful.
* Cuba on Tuesday lifted a mask mandate in place for two years following a successful vaccination drive that health officials say has contributed to a sharp drop in cases and nearly three weeks without a single death from COVID-19.
AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
* Fears over the possible side effects and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines have been the main drivers of hesitancy among thousands of South Africans, a government-backed online survey showed.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are due to meet in June to decide on whether to recommend authorizing Moderna Inc’s vaccine for children below 6 years old, and Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s vaccine for children below 5 years old. Here is a look at some of the factors expected to be considered in this decision.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asia’s factory activity slowed in May as China’s heavy-handed coronavirus curbs continued to disrupt supply chains and dampen demand, adding to woes for some of the region’s economies that are already under strain from surging raw material costs.
* China’s new home prices rose slightly in May from a month earlier, a private survey showed, amid still fragile overall demand as tighter COVID-19 curbs dented confidence in the property market.
(Compiled by Shailesh Kuber and Dina Kartit; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Grant McCool and Sriraj Kalluvila)
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