TOP HEADLINES

• The catastrophic scale of the COVID-19 pandemic could have been prevented had the warning signs been heeded, the World Health Organization panel investigating the world's coronavirus response concluded on Wednesday.

• France's parliament backed President Emmanuel Macron's plan to introduce a COVID-19 "health pass." Deputies had previously pushed back against the move arguing it was discriminatory for those not yet vaccinated.

• Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said 1 million people lost their jobs due to the economic downturn caused by the pandemic over the past year.

• COVID-19-neutralizing antibodies persist in patients for at least eight months after a diagnosis and can play a crucial role in fighting the infection, according to an Italian study.

• The UK's economy began to recover strongly at the end of the first quarter despite lockdown restrictions, according to official data revealed on Wednesday. 

• People in Scotland will be able to hug and meet in each other's homes from Monday next week, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced.

• The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it would simplify some of its review procedures to focus on COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. It faces a pandemic-driven surge in new drug applications.

• A majority of Russians are not planning to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a poll highlighting the difficulties of the country's immunization campaign. 

• An independent public inquiry into the British government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic will begin in spring 2022, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced. The country has had one of the worst outbreaks of the pandemic, prompting claims of government mismanagement. 

• Some fans are to be allowed back into stadiums to watch the final round of the Portuguese football league on May 19 to test the potential large-scale return of spectators.

• Coronavirus vaccines using mRNA technology such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna appear able to "neutralize" the variant behind India's outbreak, the EMA said.

• San Marino, an independent micro-state in northern Italy, announced it would offer Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to tourists for 50 euros ($61). The jab will be made available to anyone who books a hotel for at least three nights and returns within three or four weeks for the second injection.

• Spain expects to welcome around 45 million foreign tourists in 2021, just over half the number who came in 2019 before the pandemic struck, the tourism minister stated.

• The number of patients in French hospitals with COVID-19 fell on Tuesday and the number of new infections increased at the slowest pace since June 2020, health ministry data showed.

• Intensive care medical staff exhausted by the battle against the virus went on strike in some French hospitals on Tuesday to demand better pay and working conditions. The CGT trade union said the pandemic had underlined the need to increase the number of nurses and intensive care beds in public hospitals and improve salary terms.

• The impact of the pandemic became increasingly noticeable at food banks across Germany as many locations saw customer numbers rise by up to 20 percent, non-profit organization the Tafel announced.

• India on Wednesday said a record number of people were killed by the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, pushing its overall official death toll over 250,000.

• Travel group TUI expects a strong 2021 holiday season and is sticking to its plan to operate at 75 percent of pre-pandemic capacity. The world's biggest holiday group said that increasing vaccinations mean Europe will reopen for travel. However, ongoing restrictions and uncertainty have so far held back an expected surge in demand after winter lockdowns.
 

AROUND EUROPE 

Penelope Liersch in Budapest 

Hungary's daily infections and fatalities continue to decrease, with first-dose vaccinations administered now standing at 4.39 million. That's below the government's projected outcome, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban initially saying 5 million vaccinations would be reached by May 10. 

Once the next vaccine milestone is reached, weddings and family reunions will be allowed to take place. From Thursday, 16 to 18-year-olds will start receiving the Pfizer jab. An estimated 90,000 teenagers have registered.

Implementing an EU immunity certificate program (commonly labeled as a vaccine passport) will likely be complicated as member states make bilateral or multilateral agreements on travel. 

From Saturday, people who have received both doses of the vaccine in Czechia will be able to travel to Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia without having to quarantine. These agreements will particularly help Hungary and some neighboring countries that have implemented vaccines not licensed by the EMA. 

Toni Waterman in Brussels 

Belgium's COVID-19 restrictions will start to be broadly rolled back in June as vaccination gathers pace. The Consultative Committee said from June 9, indoor dining at restaurants and hotels could reopen, along with fairgrounds, fitness centers, cinemas, theaters and bowling alleys. Returning to the office will also be allowed but on a staggered basis.  

In July, outdoor events will expand to 2,500 attendees and indoors, 2,000 people will be allowed to attend. The easing will continue through September, with things returning to normal by October as long as vaccinations are high and infections are low.

Andrew Wilson in Oxford

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has come under increased pressure to set out details of the planned inquiry into his handling of the coronavirus. He was due to deliver an update on the pandemic in the House of Commons  on Wednesday afternoon and to face questions about the planned scope of the investigation.

The pandemic has fueled a boost in National Health Service (NHS) recruitment. The number of nurses, midwives and health visitors joining the NHS is up by more than 11,000, health chiefs have said.

Scientists are predicting the vaccine program will take care of the rest of the recovery after lockdown. The available data suggest that considerable protection lies in the first dose, with the second acting to boost immunity and provide long-lasting protection.

Among those at most risk (the over-50s and younger adults with health conditions, the demographics in which 99 percent of COVID-19 deaths have occurred) uptake for the first dose has been 95 percent.

The latest government data , based on evidence from the roll-out, suggest one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine cuts the risk of infection by as much as 70 percent and death by even more.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

CGTN Europe: Why is the European Union suing AstraZeneca again?

CGTN China: Wang Yi hails BRI cooperation in health, economy amid COVID-19

CGTN America: Agencies limiting numbers of background actors on sets to minimize pandemic risk

CGTN Africa: Explained - Africa’s COVID-19 Vaccine roll out

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