Overview: China/Sjanghai, U.S. airlines, other developments

Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus Residents of Beijing fretted over anti-virus restrictions curbing their movement while also worrying about the dozens of new COVID-19 cases reported daily, as China's leaders threatened action against critics of their zero-tolerance COVID policy. Reuters Reuters

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* Shanghai said on Friday it has brought China's worst outbreak of COVID-19 under effective control following a month-long lockdown of nearly 25 million people, with authorities vowing to stand by their zero-COVID strategy despite mounting economic costs. read more

* Spain received 4 million tourists in March, more than eight times as many as in the same month last year, after most pandemic-related restrictions were lifted, data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) showed. read more

* Major U.S. airlines, business and travel groups and other companies have urged the White House to abandon COVID-19 pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated international passengers travelling to the United States. read more

* U.S. President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley will not travel to Europe with the first lady after having "close contact" with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said. read more  ...

* As the death toll from COVID-19 in the United States nears the 1 million mark, members of the Native American tribe, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, are trying to cope with the devastation caused by the virus. read more  ...

* Aspen Pharmacare will switch about half of its COVID-19 vaccine production capacity onto other products if demand doesn't pick up within six weeks, its CEO warned, as South Africa's president and health officials urged more Africans to take up the shots. read more

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