Daily global COVID-19 infections are projected to rise slowly to about 18.7 million by February from the current 16.7 million average daily cases, driven by the northern hemisphere's winter months, the University of Washington said in an analysis.
The United States will keep in place the public health emergency status of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing millions of Americans to still receive free tests, vaccines and treatments until at least April of next year, two Biden administration officials said on Friday.
China on Friday eased some of its strict COVID rules, including shortening quarantines by two days for close contacts of infected people and for inbound travellers, and removing a penalty for airlines for bringing in too many cases.
Residents welcomed China shortening COVID-19 quarantine by two days for close contacts of infected people and for inbound travellers as it eased some of its strict pandemic rules on Friday.
The U.S. national public health agency said on Friday that Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were estimated to account for about 44.2% of COVID-19 cases in the country for the week ending Nov. 12, compared with 32.6% in the previous week.
Germany is headed towards a surge in COVID-19 cases this winter, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Friday as he criticised four states' plans to relax isolation rules for infected people.
Pfizer Ltd , the Indian arm of U.S. pharma giant Pfizer Inc , reported a rise in second-quarter profit on Friday, boosted by price hikes and lower input costs.
Israel has detected cholera in a reservoir in the north of the country, likely the result of an outbreak in neighbouring Syria spreading, the health ministry said on Friday.
