Hard Numbers: Nepal’s syringe shortfall, CDC slashes isolation guidelines, Sri Lanka’s foreign currency crunch, parakeets home for Christmas

December 28, 2021

A health worker prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Civil hospital. Nepal government has started inoculating the children aged above 17 years and chronically ill people by Pfizer vaccine which was provided by the US government to Nepal through COVAX facility.

15 million: Nepal has abandoned plans to start vaccinating children against COVID this week because of a lack of syringes. Nepalese authorities say that 15 million syringes are needed to make up the current shortfall for both adults and kids. To date, Kathmandu has been getting needles from China and India, but India has pulled back to meet domestic demand.

5: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that people infected with COVID who are asymptomatic should isolate for just 5 days, cutting by half the recommended quarantine period. The change comes as large swaths of the US workforce have been disrupted because staff infected with the omicron variant are staying home.

3: Sri Lanka will close diplomatic missions in three countries – Germany, Nigeria, and Cyprus – in a bid to save foreign currency reserves. This comes as Sri Lanka’s Central Bank doubled down on foreign currency restrictions for remittances received at home as the country’s tourism-dependent economy continues to reel from the pandemic.

800: An animal rescue facility in the US state of Michigan got a major Christmas Day gift when more than 800 parakeets were handed over. A father-son duo had reportedly been breeding the birds at home in extremely unhealthy conditions.

Hard Numbers: Major hurricane sweeping through Caribbean, Insurgents implement blockade in Mali, Côte d’Ivoire’s octogenarian leader wins again, Diphtheria on the rise

Hurricane Melissa, which has developed into a Category 5 storm, moves north in the Caribbean Sea towards Jamaica and Cuba in a composite satellite image obtained by Reuters on October 27, 2025.

CIRA/NOAA/Handout via REUTERS

30: Hurricane Melissa, which was upgraded over the weekend to a Category 5 storm, is expected to hit Jamaica on Monday and bring 30 inches of rain and 165-mph winds, in what will be one of the most intense storms to ever hit the island.

Trump’s Asian trade blitz sets up sitdown with Xi

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh as East Timor's Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao and Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong look on at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 26, 2025.

Vincent Thian/Pool via REUTERS

The US president signed a raft of trade deals on Sunday at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, but the main event of his Asia trip will be his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

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Argentina's President Javier Milei celebrates after the La Libertad Avanza party won the midterm election, which is seen as crucial for Milei's administration after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that future support for Argentina would depend on Milei's party performing well in the vote, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 26, 2025.

REUTERS/Cristina Sille

Hard Numbers: Nepal’s syringe shortfall, CDC slashes isolation guidelines, Sri Lanka’s foreign currency crunch, parakeets home for Christmas

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Hard Numbers: Nepal’s syringe shortfall, CDC slashes isolation guidelines, Sri Lanka’s foreign currency crunch, parakeets home for Christmas

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More from GZERO Media

A new set of forces is distorting the economy's response mechanisms and muting the traditional cycle. Listen to Strategic Alternatives, the RBC Capital Markets podcast, to hear Chief Economist Frances Donald break down what it means for companies, investors, and policymakers.

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30: Hurricane Melissa, which was upgraded over the weekend to a Category 5 storm, is expected to hit Jamaica on Monday and bring 30 inches of rain and 165-mph winds, in what will be one of the most intense storms to ever hit the island.

The US president signed a raft of trade deals on Sunday at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, but the main event of his Asia trip will be his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

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Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Tristan Harris of the Center for Humane Technology warns that tech companies are racing to build powerful AI models and ignoring mental health risks and other consequences for society and humanity.

Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World Podcast to talk about the risks of recklessly rolling out powerful AI tools without guardrails as big tech firms race to build “god in a box.”

The next leap in artificial intelligence is physical. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down how robots and autonomous machines will transform daily life, if we can manage the risks that come with them.

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