Overview: Europe, U.S., Asia, Africa deveopments

Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus Germany plans to end mandatory quarantine for most people who catch COVID-19, the health ministry proposed on Thursday, as numbers isolating with the infection top four million. Reuters Reuters

March 31 (Reuters) - Germany plans to end mandatory quarantine for most people who catch COVID-19, the health ministry proposed on Thursday, as numbers isolating with the infection top four million. read more

* Britain's economy grew faster than expected in 2021, but the increase was largely due to COVID-related activity in the health sector, which masked the inflation hit to household incomes and a gloomy picture for the private sector. read more

* Italy reported 73,195 COVID-19 related cases on Thursday, against 77,621 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths fell to 159 from 170.

* CIA Director William Burns has tested positive for COVID-19 and will work from home and quarantine for five days before returning to the office, the U.S intelligence agency's public affairs office said on Thursday. read more

* More than a third of high school students surveyed in the United States experienced stress, anxiety or depression, and nearly a fifth said they seriously considered suicide during the pandemic, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. read more

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* Shanghai is set to put the vast majority of its residents under COVID-19 lockdown from Friday, as it expands curbs to include the western half of the city and extends restrictions in the east where people have already been forced to stay home since Monday. read more  ...

* India's Maharashtra state, home to Mumbai, will make wearing masks optional from April 2 after a steep fall in the number of active cases and deaths from COVID-19 in recent days. read more

* Pakistan has disbanded the National Command and Operations Center, which was overseeing the country's COVID-19 response, as infection numbers were at the lowest since the start of the outbreak, the prime minister said. read more

* Ghana will start producing its own COVID-19 vaccines by January 2024, President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Wednesday. read more  ...