Pandemic

Uncertainty in the market led to one in three retailers running promotions or discounts even over the festive period, but more than one in four businesses had higher sales this holiday season, compared with the same period in 2021, according to a study by the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE), which was released on Friday, regarding the activity of commercial stores

The new confirmed coronavirus cases in Bulgaria for the last 24 hours are 45, according to the data of the Unified Information Portal.

743 tests were done, which means that the share of positive results is 6 percent.

No patients with confirmed coronavirus infection have died.

In Tokyo's Asakusa tourist district, caricaturist Masashi Higashitani is dusting off his Chinese as he prepares for an influx of travelers after Beijing ends inbound quarantine rules.

"We used to say 'ni hao' all the time," he said with a laugh as he whipped up a portrait in minutes.

With Asian visitors still largely absent, major Paris museums struggled to regain pre-pandemic numbers in 2022, despite a huge recovery from the previous year, official figures showed on Jan. 5.

The Louvre, the world's most visited museum, welcomed 7.8 million people last year, a 170-percent increase on 2021, but still down 19 percent on 2019.

In China, the death of more and more famous people is being announced, prompting residents to question the previous data on mortality from COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, writes the BBC.

"Bulgaria is at the beginning of a flu wave, as the H3N2 and H1N1 strains are currently predominant in our country", announced the chief state health inspector Prof. Angel Kunchev.

"At the moment, the rate of hospitalizations is normal. There is no evidence of a severe course," he assured.

According to him, climatic conditions do not lead to a flu wave.

Patients, most of them elderly, are lying on stretchers in hallways and taking oxygen while sitting in wheelchairs as COVID-19 surges in China's capital Beijing.

The Chuiyangliu hospital in the city's east was packed with newly arrived patients on Thursday. By midmorning beds had run out, even as ambulances continued to bring those in need.

The new year starts from a favorable starting point, with the Greek economy having shown remarkable resistance to two consecutive, particularly serious, international disturbances - the pandemic and the energy crisis, starting with the war in Ukraine -, which were also accompanied by the most severe inflationary escalation in 40 years.

Istanbul was the busiest European airport and the only major European hub whose passenger volumes exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter of 2022, according to the Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe).

Its passenger traffic increased by 3 percent from the third quarter of 2019 and rose nearly 56.1 percent when compared to the third quarter of 2021.

The new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Bulgaria for the last 24 hours are 180, according to the data of the Unified Information Portal.

1284 tests were done, which means that the share of positive results is 14 percent.

No patients with confirmed coronavirus infection have died.