COVID-19

Officials have said that as of Wednesday, 480 million people have travelled across the country since January 7.

Luxury retailers Richemont and Burberry said they were optimistic that consumers in China would start spending again, helping offset three years of upheaval from the government's strict COVID-19 lockdowns and soaring infections.

The richest 1% grabbed around half of all new wealth created since 2020 globally.

The figure refers only to deaths at medical facilities, with the total number likely to be higher.

Genomic sequencing allowed the world to track new coronavirus variants throughout the pandemic.

AstraZeneca said on Monday it had struck a deal to buy U.S.-based drug developer CinCor Pharma Inc for up to $1.8 billion to increase its stock of heart and kidney drugs.

Almost 90 percent of people in China's third most populous province have now been infected with Covid-19, a top official said Monday, as the country battles an unprecedented surge in cases.

Understaffed and underfunded clinics stand half-empty in parts of the Chinese countryside even as hospitals in major cities heave under an unprecedented Covid wave -- an illustration of the stark disparities in the country's healthcare system.

A 65-year-old Indian man commissioned a life-size silicone statue of his wife after he lost her to Covid-19.

Japan will toughen its COVID-19 border control measures for travellers from China from Sunday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, in response to a surge of infections.

Oil fell sharply on Wednesday after slumping in the previous session, weighed down by concerns about weak demand due to the state of the global economy and China's rising COVID cases.

A growing number of countries are worried about a lack of data and transparency surrounding China's outbreak.

China called the mounting international restrictions on travellers from its territory "unacceptable" on Tuesday after more than a dozen countries placed fresh Covid curbs on visitors from the world's most populous nation.

In rules that come into effect on January 5, all travellers to the UK from China must submit a negative test before boarding.

Thousands of Chinese took to the streets to mark the New Year as authorities and state media sought to reassure the public that the COVID-19 outbreak sweeping across the country was under control and nearing its peak.

The debate continues over whether or not vaccines are more dangerous than people are led to believe.

China said on Friday all the Covid-19 data it has shared -- including with the World Health Organization -- has been transparent, despite its hospitals being overwhelmed and its official figures on infections and deaths being tiny compared with other countries.

An explosion of Covid-19 cases in China as the country lifts its zero-Covid measures could create a "potential breeding ground" for new variants to emerge, health experts warn.

Italy on Thursday urged the rest of the European Union to follow its lead and test travellers from China for COVID, but others said they saw no need to do so for now or were waiting for a common stance across the largely border-less bloc.

Beginning on Jan. 5, all air passengers 2 years old and older will require a negative result from a test no more than two days before departure from China, Hong Kong or Macao.

Doctors working despite being infected, beds filled with dozens of elderly straining to breathe -- on the front lines of China's worst-ever Covid outbreak, hospitals are struggling.