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Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 500 million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, as the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron surges in many countries in Europe and Asia, Reuters reported.

The rise of BA.2 has been blamed for recent surges in China as well as record infections in Europe. It has been called the “stealth variant” because it is slightly harder to track than others.

South Korea leads the world in the daily average number of new cases, reporting more than 182,000 new infections a day and accounting for one in every four infections globally, according to a Reuters analysis.

New cases are rising in 20 out of more than 240 countries and territories tracked, including Taiwan, Thailand and Bhutan.

Shanghai is fighting China’s worst COVID-19 outbreak since the virus first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, with almost 25,000 new local cases reported, although the city’s quarantine policy is criticized for separating children from parents and putting asymptomatic cases among those with symptoms, according to Reuters.

“Shanghai’s epidemic prevention and control is at the most difficult and most critical stage,” Wu Qianyu, an official with the municipal health commission, told a briefing.

EUROPE, US STILL AFFECTED

Some European countries are now seeing a slower uptick in new cases, or even a decline, but the region is still reporting over 1 million cases about every two days, according to the Reuters tally.

In Germany, the seven-day average of new infections has fallen and is now at 59% of its previous peak in late March. New cases are also falling in the United Kingdom and Italy, while they are holding steady in France.

Overall, COVID-19 cases in the United States have dropped sharply after hitting record levels in January, but the resurgence of cases in parts of Asia and Europe has raised concerns that another wave could follow in the United States, Reuters reported.

The US national public health agency said on Monday the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron was estimated to account for nearly three of every four coronavirus variants in the country.

The BA.2 variant now makes up about 86% of all sequenced cases globally, according to the World Health Organization. It is known to be more transmissible than the BA.1 and BA.1.1 Omicron sub-variants. Evidence so far, though, suggests BA.2 is no more likely to cause severe disease.

Scientists continue to emphasize vaccines are critical for avoiding the devastation the virus can cause.

Roughly 64.8% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, although only 14.8% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose, according to figures from Our World in Data.

While cases have flared in Europe and Asia recently, the United States still has the highest total COVID infections since the start of the pandemic with 80.41 million, followed by India with 43.04 million and Brazil with 30.14 million, according to Reuters.

Nepal reported 14 new Covid-19 cases on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 3, 030 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 14 returned positive. Likewise, 873 people underwent antigen tests, of which no one were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 54 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 1, 438 active cases in the country.

Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal has urged the government to postpone the local level elections.

The party urged the government to postpone the May 13 elections to ensure their participation.

Party spokesperson and Standing Committee member Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma held a meeting with Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and said that they also wanted to take part in the local polls.

"We have urged the Home Minister to postpone the elections. He has taken our request seriously," Bishwokarma said. 

He further said that they have demanded the government to implement the three-point agreement signed with the government.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, is arriving in Nepal on April 21.

He is arriving in Nepal at the invitation of the Ministry of Health and Population.

During his visit, the Director General is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

He will also hold separate meetings with Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka and Health Minister Birodh Khatiwada.

Innovative Nation events has finally forayed into professional music production and music video production services across Nepal.

Having been a major part of the event industry for over a decade, they finally took this leap recently, read a statement issued by the Innovative Nation Pvt. Ltd.

Innovative Nation joined hands with some major music labels globally and plans to showcase Nepal and Nepal music culture across the globe.

They are planning to record their first music video soon with DJ Harshit Shah from India, who has some major releases globally, the statement read.

“This music video will be shot covering the nightlife of Nepal and the beauty of Kathmandu city,” Yashwant Agarwal, founder of the company said, adding, “We want to showcase state of art video which will be shot by professional cinematographer using the best cameras available.”

This will definitely open up a new avenue for Nepali artists and will definitely boost the tourism industry as they have an extensive plan to promote it globally, the statement further read.

Apart from this, Innovative Nation events has recently stepped in the luxury weddings and destination weddings as well, which has already been the talk amongst many.

Police have arrested four persons on the charge of murdering Arjun Das of Kailali.

The Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) made public the four persons involved in the murder by organizing a press conference on Friday.

The detainees have been identified as Manoj Bhandari, Dilip Das, Sumit Saud and Bam Bahadur Bohara.

According to a preliminary investigation, they killed Das under the influence of drugs on December 18.

Police said that they first tied Das to a tree and cut off his head.

The arrestees have been sent to Kailali for further investigation.

They had been hiding in India after committing the crime. Police nabbed them when they had come to Bhairahawa.

Police have launched further investigation saying that other people may have been involved in the murder.

The daily tally of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai, which is at the centre of China's epidemic, has fallen slightly, authorities said on Friday, as the city's lockdown threatened to exact a heavier toll on the world's second-biggest economy, Reuters reported.

China's automakers may have to suspend production next month if suppliers in Shanghai and surrounding areas can't resume work, the chief executive officer of electric-car maker Xpeng 9868.HK said, while airlines and the property sector are also feeling the pain.

Shanghai, which is battling China's worst COVID-19 outbreak since the virus emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019, reported 23,000 COVID cases on Friday, down from more than 27,000 the day before.

However, the number of symptomatic cases in that tally edged up to a record 3,200, from the 2,573 reported a day earlier.

Officials releasing the data did not comment on the reason for the overall fall in the city, which has put most of its 25 million residents into lockdown.

China's efforts to stop the virus with a strict "zero-COVID" policy are triggering economic disruptions that are rippling through global supply chains for goods ranging from electric vehicles to iPhones, according to Reuters.

Xpeng chief executive officer He Xiaopeng issued a dire warning for his sector unless the situation improves.

"If the suppliers in Shanghai and its surrounding areas can't find a way to resume operations and production, in May possibly all of China's carmakers will have to stop production," He said on his Wechat social media feed.

An April 7 study by Gavekal Dragonomics found that 87 of China's 100 largest cities by gross domestic product have imposed some form of quarantine curbs.

COVID curbs have also devastated travel across the country, with carrier Air China 601111.SS reporting a 70% drop in March traffic from a year ago on Thursday.

Home prices stalled for a second month in a row in China's 70 major cities last month, according to official data released on Friday, as the lockdowns sapped consumer confidence and undermined demand. L2N2WD02F

China's State Council, or cabinet, said on Wednesday that more policy measures were needed to support the economy, but analysts are unsure if rate cuts would quickly reverse the slump as long as the government maintains its COVID policy, Reuters reported.

In Shanghai, locked down residents have vented frustration on social media over the difficulties in getting food and the rule that anyone testing positive, symptomatic or not, has to go into quarantine at state-run facilities, which many people have complained are in poor condition.

The city has converted residential buildings into quarantine centres but that's sparking protests from angry neighbours worried they are being put at increased risk of infection, according to Reuters.

The price of gold has risen by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, gold is currently trading at Rs10, 2000 per tola. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 101, 500 per tola on Thursday. 

Similarly, the Tejabi gold is now trading for Rs 101, 500 per tola in the market.

Similarly, the price of silver rose by Rs 15 per tola and is now trading at Rs 1, 415 per tola.