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 Sydney pubs set for mid-Oct reopening
Sydney's cafes, restaurants and pubs are set to reopen in the second
half of October after months of strict COVID-19 lockdown, according
to an exit roadmap published by New South Wales state officials on
Thursday.
They said bars and eateries, as well as gyms, across the city of
five million people will be able to reopen at reduced capacity
within days of the state reaching a 70% double-vaccination target,
now expected around mid-October. Stay-at-home orders for the fully
vaccinated will be lifted on the Monday after the target is
achieved, the officials said.
Scientists are watching new coronavirus variants
The continued spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has spawned a Greek
alphabet of variants - a naming system used by the World Health
Organization (WHO) to track concerning new mutations of the virus
that causes COVID-19. Some have equipped the virus with better ways
of infecting humans or evading vaccine protection.
Scientists remain focused on Delta, now the dominant variant around
the world, but are tracking others to see what may one day take its
place, such as Mu, the variant formerly known as B.1.621, which was
first identified in Colombia in January. Mu carries key mutations
that have been linked with increased transmissibility and reduced
immune protection.
London's financial workers flock back to office
London's financial sector, keen to return to a semblance of
normality after the worst of the pandemic, is leading the charge to
encourage employees back to their old lives, with some companies
even offering free food and social events. A similar office influx
is happening in the United States, albeit cautiously amid fears
about the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant.
Senior executives face a tricky task in encouraging staff back to
work at a time when cases of COVID-19 are still on the rise in
Britain and commuter trains above and below ground are baking under
near-record temperatures for September.
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 Japan to extend COVID emergency
curbs in Tokyo, other areas
Japan said on Thursday it will extend emergency
COVID-19 restrictions in Tokyo and other regions
until the end of this month to curb infections
and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed,
saying it was too early to let down its guard.
The country's emergency curbs have centred on asking restaurants to
close early and refrain from serving alcohol. Some signs of
improvement around the nation mean that two prefectures out of 21
will move from the state of emergency measures to more targeted
restrictions, while a number of other prefectures will remove all
curbs.
EU lists rare nerve disorder as possible side-effect of AstraZeneca
COVID-19 vaccine
Europe's medicines regulator has added an extremely rare
nerve-damaging disorder, Guillain-Barré syndrome, as a possible
side-effect of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, regular safety
updates from the watchdog showed on Wednesday.
The European Medicines Agency said a causal relationship between GBS
and the AstraZeneca shot, known as Vaxzevria, was a "at least a
reasonable possibility" after 833 cases of GBS were reported out of
592 million doses of the vaccine given worldwide by July 31. The EMA
categorised the side-effect as "very rare", the lowest frequency of
side-effect category it has, and has emphasised that the benefits of
the shot outweigh the risks.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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