Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) - Israel is to offer second COVID-19 booster shots as fast-spreading Omicron forces countries across the world to impose new curbs days before Christmas, but a South African study offered a glimmer of hope about the new variant's firepower.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

EUROPE

* Britain from Wednesday is reducing the COVID-19 self-isolation period to seven days from 10 days for people in England who get a negative result on a lateral flow test two days in a row.

* Finland will restrict restaurants' opening hours to curb rising infections and the spread of the new Omicron variant, the government said.

* Poland reported 775 COVID-related deaths on Friday, the highest daily number in the fourth wave of the pandemic.

* The World Health Organization's European head warned countries to brace for a "significant surge" in cases and advised the widespread use of boosters for protection.

AMERICAS

* U.S. President Joe Biden announced more federal vaccination and testing sites to tackle a surge in COVID-19 driven by Omicron. He also accused unspecified cable television personalities and social media companies of making money by "peddling lies" about vaccines.

* U.S. health authorities are considering reducing the 10-day recommended quarantine period for Americans who test positive.

* The U.S. Justice Department announced it would not force federal inmates who were sent home due to the pandemic to return to prison once the emergency is lifted.

* British Columbia will shut gyms, bars and nightclubs while allowing fewer people at tables in restaurants and cafes through the Christmas holiday period.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* The Philippines has halved to three months the waiting time for a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine in its battle to rein in the more infectious Omicron variant of coronavirus, which has forced a global tightening of curbs.

* Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison ruled out a Christmas lockdown, saying hospitals were coping well with a record surge in cases fuelled by Omicron.

* COVID-19 threw the Australian soccer schedule into disarray as six games from the A-League and FFA Cup were postponed on Wednesday.

* Japan has found its first suspected instance of community spread infection from the Omicron variant, the governor of Osaka prefecture said.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Turkey's domestically developed vaccine, Turkovac, has received emergency use authorisation by Turkish authorities and will be open to use from next weekend.

* Israel will offer a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to people older than 60 or with compromised immune systems, as well as to health workers.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* AstraZeneca said it is working with Oxford University to produce a vaccine for Omicron, joining other vaccine-makers who are looking to develop the variant-specific vaccine.

* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is set to authorise COVID-19 treatment pills from both Pfizer and Merck as early as Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* European equities edged slightly higher on Wednesday, with markets optimistic that the Omicron variant would only have a limited economic fallout, even as global cases surged and more countries announced restrictions. [MKTS/GLOB]

* Britain's economy grew more slowly than previously thought in the July-September period, before the Omicron variant posed a further threat to the recovery later in the year, official data showed.

* China's strict COVID-19 policy is weighing on consumption and rattling foreign firms, but its effectiveness and the imperative to maintain stability heading into a sensitive year mean Beijing will stick to its approach, experts say.

(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska and Devika Syamnath; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta and Chizu Nomiyama)

FILE PHOTO: Travellers walk towards the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic testing area at Ben Gurion International Airport as Israel imposes new restrictions near Tel Aviv, Israel November 28, 2021. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

FILE PHOTO: People board a bus back to Malaysia, as the Vaccinated Travel Lane between Singapore and Malaysia opens after the land border between the two countries reopened nearly two years of being shut down due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, at a bus station in Singapore November 29, 2021. REUTERS/Caroline Chia

FILE PHOTO: A customer collects takeaway food from the Naughty BRGR restaurant, as the three weeks long partial lockdown of the restaurants starts due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Helsinki, Finland March 8, 2021. Lehtikuva/Antti Aimo-Koivisto via REUTERS

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions -
https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html