Overview: Asia, Europe, Haj pilgrimage

Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus Hong Kong's new leader said the city will look into shortening COVID-19 quarantine requirements for travellers, while parts of eastern China are running fresh rounds of mass COVID-19 testing, as the country faces new waves of infections. Reuters Reuters

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* Hong Kong will look into shortening COVID-19 quarantine requirements for travellers, while still aiming to curb the spread of the virus and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, the city's new leader John Lee said on Tuesday. read more

* Macau reported 89 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the total to more than 900 infections since mid-June, as authorities in the world's biggest gambling hub race to contain its largest outbreak since the pandemic began. read more

* The number of new COVID-19 infections in Romania nearly doubled over the last week, with a peak of 10,000 daily cases expected in mid-August, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said on Monday. read more

* Russia will lift COVID-19 restrictions on entry into the country starting on July 15, the government's coronavirus task force said on Monday.

* U.S. health regulators will not require companies to submit new clinical trial data on COVID-19 vaccines that target the now dominant BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants to authorize those shots, but will instead rely on studies showing the efficacy of targeting the earlier BA.1 subvariant, a top official said on Thursday. read more

* Thousands of pilgrims started arriving in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Friday, among some one million Muslims expected to attend the 2022 haj pilgrimage season after two years of major disruption caused by the pandemic. read more

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