WASHINGTON, D. C., RAW - EUROPE

* COVID-19 cases in Sweden are falling sharply, even as nearly all pandemic-related restrictions were lifted less than a month ago.

* France will on March 14 lift rules requiring people to show a vaccine passport to access venues, reported BFM TV.

* Greece will lift its requirement of mask-wearing outdoors from Saturday, as infections trend lower.

AMERICAS

* The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said some 93 per cent of the US population live in locations where coronavirus levels are low enough that people do not need to wear masks indoors.

* The Biden administration unveiled a $US32.5 billion ($A44.4 billion) emergency plan to help Ukraine respond to Russia's military invasion and provide more money to fight the pandemic, sparking a new partisan battle in Congress.

* Detroit's Big Three automakers said they will allow autoworkers to stop wearing masks at workplaces where US health officials have said it is safe to do so.

* The United States is waiving a requirement for negative tests from Americans leaving Belarus or Russia to travel home.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* South Korea began early voting for a presidential election in the shadow of the pandemic, as up to a million people with the virus are expected to cast ballots during a spike driving one of the world's highest caseloads.

* Two of Hong Kong's largest consumer retail chains started rationing some food and drug items to curb panic buying that has plagued the city over the past week amid fears of a citywide lockdown as COVID cases soar.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

* The World Health Organisation does not expect any immediate impact on vaccine supply to Africa from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, senior officials said.

* Turkey eased the majority of restrictions on Wednesday.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Eli Lilly and Incyte's arthritis drug baricitinib helped reduce the risk of death in hospitalised patients by 13 per cent regardless of which other coronavirus treatment they were given, according to a large British study.

* COVID-related restrictions on people's movements and interactions may be linked to a sharp decline in cases of mosquito-borne dengue fever in 2020, offering new insight into how it might be controlled, a study said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian equity markets and the euro suffered heavy losses, while oil prices jumped as investors took fright from reports of a nuclear power plant on fire amid fierce fighting between Ukraine and Russian troops.

* Japan's jobless rate rose to 2.8 per cent as the surge in infections and mobility curbs hit service sector activity, although a gauge of job availability grew to a 21-month high in January, government data showed.

GLOBAL

DEATHS 6,001,833

CASES 442,406,885

RECOVERED 375,025,641