Travel between Hong Kong and China will no longer require COVID-19 PCR tests nor be held to a daily limit, authorities announced Friday, as both places seek to drive economic growth, the Associated Press reported. Hong Kong’s tourism industry has suffered since 2019 after months of political strife that at times turned into violent clashes between protesters and police, as well as harsh entry restrictions implemented during the pandemic. The announcement came a day after Lee unveiled a tourism campaign aimed at attracting travelers to Hong Kong that includes 500,000 free air tickets for tourists to visit the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
The seven-day average of new U.S. COVID cases stood at 41,412 on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker. That’s down 19% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was down 21% at 31,394. The average for deaths was 462, down 7% from two weeks ago. The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 671.3 million on Friday, while the death toll rose above 6.83 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. leads the world with 102.5 million cases and 1,110,856 fatalities.
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