(Reuters) – Japan said on Tuesday it would ship millions more doses of AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine to Asian neighbours this week as a continuation of bilateral donations.
The country is also likely to extend a quasi state-of-emergency for the greater Tokyo area by a month, and some Olympics events including the opening ceremony may be held without spectators, Kyodo News reported.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news
EUROPE
* The world can no longer think only about COVID-19 and ignore the other critical health issues, economic problems and education challenges that have built up during the pandemic, Britain’s health minister said.
* Germany’s public health institute said on Monday the United Kingdom, India, Nepal, Portugal and Russia were no longer “areas of variant concern”, reducing travel restrictions for people arriving from those countries.
* Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel is in a serious but stable condition after contracting COVID-19 and will remain in hospital for the time being, the government said.
* Coronavirus infections in Spain have risen by 32,607 since Friday, official data showed on Monday, 85% more than the previous weekend’s increase as the Delta variant drives a surge among unvaccinated young people.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* India’s deaths relative to infections hit a record high in June after cases peaked in early May, an analysis of government data shows, amid pressure on authorities to accurately report deaths from a second wave of the virus.
* Indonesia has prepared backup medical facilities for a worst-case scenario where daily infections reach 40,000 to 50,000, a senior official said, as the country battles its fastest-spreading outbreak.
* Struggling to contain an outbreak of the highly-transmissible Delta variant, Fiji reported a record 636 infections and six deaths on Tuesday, with the mortuary at the Pacific island’s main hospital filled to capacity.
* The premier of Australia’s New South Wales state said she aims to decide within the next 24 hours whether to extend a COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney.
AMERICAS
* Brazil’s government extended its emergency cash transfer program to poor families during the pandemic for another three months from August.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Israel will deliver about 700,000 expiring doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine to South Korea this month, and South Korea will give Israel back the same number, already on order from Pfizer, in September and October.
* Turkey has identified three cases of the new Delta Plus variant in three provinces, its health minister said on Monday, adding that the separate Delta variant had also been identified in about 280 cases across 30 provinces.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* A lack of side effects after receiving an mRNA vaccine does not mean the immune system has failed to respond, and such a type of shot limits rare breakthrough infections, researchers have found.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Oil prices were heading towards three-year highs on Tuesday, towing petrocurrencies and bond yields with them, after the world’s main oil producers failed to agree on production plans.
* Japan’s economy is set to recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year, helped by solid exports as well as consumer spending supported by progress in vaccinations, the government said in revised estimates.
* Investor sentiment in Germany remained at a very high level in July despite a more-than-expected drop as forecasts for a strong economic recovery rose, a survey showed.
* Malaysia’s central bank is expected to leave its key interest rate unchanged, a Reuters poll showed, amid an extended nationwide lockdown imposed to contain a surge in infections.
(Compiled by Federico Maccioni and Amy Caren Daniel; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta and Ed Osmond)
