SHANGHAI officials said on Wednesday half the city had achieved "zero-COVID" status, but uncompromising restrictions had to remain in place under a national policy which the head of the World Health Organisation described as "unsustainable". 


EUROPE

* Face masks will not have to be worn in airports and on flights in Europe from May 16, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday. 

* A shortage of dye for medical scans produced by General Electric's GE.N healthcare unit in China is affecting regions beyond the United States with a German hospital warned of a supply squeeze. 

* NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has been diagnosed with COVID-19, a spokesperson for the alliance said. 

AMERICAS

* World Bank President David Malpass has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a internal letter from Malpass to World Bank employees seen by Reuters on Wednesday. 

* A contingent of six U.S. senators led by Democrats chastised U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai about her handling of negotiations on COVID-19 vaccine intellectual property rights, saying she had failed to consult them. 

* General Electric's GE.N healthcare unit said it had increased output of dye used for medical scans and tests at its factory in Ireland and shipped products by air to help combat shortages caused by the suspension of its Shanghai factory. 

ASIA PACIFIC

* China hit back on Wednesday against what it called "irresponsible" comments by the head of the World Health Organization, who described the country's uncompromising and increasingly painful "zero COVID" policy as "not sustainable." 

* China risks just over 1.5 million COVID deaths if it drops its tough zero-COVID policy without any safeguards such as ramping up vaccination and access to treatments, according to new modelling by scientists in China and the United States. 

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

* South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases on Wednesday reported 10,017 new COVID-19 cases, the first day since January the institute has reported more than 10,000 new infections. 

* Dubai's flagship airline Emirates hopes that it will this fiscal year start paying back the 15 billion dirhams ($4.1 billion) in state assistance it receive from the government during the pandemic, its chairman said on Monday. 

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Moderna Inc MRNA.O has made all necessary submissions required by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents and children, it said on Wednesday.

* Vaccine developer BioNTech 22UAy.DE completed a Phase II clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine in China in January but has yet to release its results, a registry of such trials showed on Tuesday. 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* The Paris tourist office is forecasting that foreign visits will increase more than five-fold in May-July compared to the same period last year, mainly thanks to tourists from Spain, Germany, Britain and Italy.