Coronavirus Live Updates: India adds 121 Covid-19 cases, one death today

Islam's annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia will return to pre-pandemic levels this year after restrictions saw the annual religious commemoration curtailed over concerns about the coronavirus, authorities say.

The hajj, required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life, represents one of the world's largest gatherings of people. Before the pandemic, the pilgrimage drew millions each year to Islam's holy city of Mecca, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that observant Muslims pray toward five times a day.

In 2019, over 2.4 million people took part in the pilgrimage. But in 2020, amid the lockdowns sparked by the pandemic, Saudi Arabia drastically curtailed the hajj with as as few as 1,000 residents of Saudi Arabia permitted to take part. It was an unprecedented move unseen even during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed tens of millions worldwide.

The Chinese embassy in South Korea has suspended issuing short-term visas for South Korean visitors, it said on Tuesday, the first retaliatory move against nations imposing COVID-19 curbs on travellers from China.

The embassy will adjust the policy subject to the lifting of South Korea's "discriminatory entry restrictions" against China, it said on its official WeChat account.

A Chinese embassy official confirmed the new measures.

Pfizer Inc Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Monday that the company is not in talks with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid for use there.

Bourla, speaking at J.P. Morgan's healthcare conference in San Francisco, also said that talks with China on future pricing for the treatment had broken off after China had asked for a lower price than Pfizer is charging for most lower middle income countries.

"They are the second highest economy in the world and I don't think that they should pay less than El Salvador," Bourla said. He said the company is back in discussions with Chinese authorities.

Moderna Inc is considering pricing its COVID-19 shot at $110 to $130 per dose in the United States when it shifts from government contracting to commercial distribution of the shots, the company's Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel told the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

"I would think this type of pricing is consistent with the value," said Bancel, according to the WSJ report, adding the company was in discussions with hospital systems, pharmacies and pharmacy-benefit managers to line up distribution of its vaccine ahead of a potential fall booster shot campaign.

Moderna had previously estimated the commercial price expectations in a range of $64 to $100 a shot.

Pfizer Inc is not in talks with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid for use there, but is in discussions about a price for the branded product, Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Monday.

Reuters reported on Friday that China was in talks with Pfizer to secure a license that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of the U.S. firm's COVID-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid in China.

Referring to that report, Bourla speaking at J.P. Morgan's healthcare conference in San Francisco, said "We are not in discussions. We have an agreement already for local manufacturing of Paxlovid in China. So we have a local partner that will make Paxlovid for us, and then we will sell it to the Chinese market."

Tourism Authority of Thailand on Monday said non-Thai travellers arriving in Thailand must have a fully vaccinated certificate, proof of recovery from Covid in the last months or a vaccine-exemption letter from a doctor. Only visitors coming from or going to countries which require a RT-PCR test need to have Covid-19 insurance, TAT said in a statement. Passengers from countries that have requirements that may prevent passengers from going back due to Covid-19 will be required to have health insurance covering at least $10,000 for treatment of Covid-19, the Tourism Authority of Thailand said in a statement.

Pfizer Inc is not in talks with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid for use there, but is in discussions about a price for the branded product, Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Monday. Reuters reported on Friday that China was in talks with Pfizer to secure a license that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of the US firm's Covid-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid in China.

A community-based surveillance conducted by the government has found that all Omicron variants - from BA.2 and XBB to BQ.1 and their respective sub-lineages — are circulating in the country. However, on the brighter side, the surveillance report suggests that the presence of these variants has not led to any increase in either mortality or transmission of Covid-19.

Almost 90 percent of people in Henan, 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. With a population of 99.4 million, the figures suggest about 88.5 million people in Henan may now have been infected.