China reported the biggest rise in daily COVID-19 cases in more than five months as Heibei province authorities imposed stricter curbs, while Japan moved ahead with plans to impose a month-long state of emergency for Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures.
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
* Some doctors’ practices in England will be able to offer the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University from Thursday.
* Russia’s official number of coronavirus deaths passed the 60,000 mark.
* The Czech Republic on Thursday reported 17,668 new cases over the past 24 hours – its highest daily tally, health ministry data showed.
* First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is under pressure to postpone the Scottish election after British PM Boris Johnson said votes in England are under review, the Telegraph reported late Wednesday.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia is on course to begin administering the first COVID-19 vaccines in February, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
* Indonesia’s highest Muslim clerical council aims to issue a ruling on whether a vaccine is permissible under Islam before the country is due to start inoculations. Indonesia reported a daily record of 9,321 new infections on Thursday.
* Japan on Thursday postponed upcoming exhibitions of the Tokyo Olympics torch around the capital city.
AMERICAS
* Mexico saw one of the biggest daily rises in cases and deaths, while health authorities said a doctor who had a serious allergic reaction after receiving Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s vaccine remained hospitalised.
* Brazil is ready to begin vaccinating its population this month, and the country has secured a total of 354 million vaccine doses for 2021.
* Canada’s Quebec province will impose a curfew starting on Saturday and extend an existing lockdown through Feb. 8, while the country will start inoculating its federal prison inmates from Friday.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* South Africa set out plans to vaccinate 40 million people, or two-thirds of its population, in a bid to achieve herd immunity, as a mutant variant drove daily new cases above 21,000 for the first time.
* Tunisia recorded 2,820 new confirmed cases, the health ministry said on Wednesday, a record since the start of the pandemic.
* Morocco’s health ministry approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for emergency use.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Moderna Inc is on track to deliver between 600 million and 1 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said.
* German biotech firm CureVac has agreed an alliance with drugmaker Bayer to help it seek regulatory approval for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine and distribute doses, the two companies said.
* European countries rolling out the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should be flexible on the time between the first and second doses, the World Health Organization’s director for the region said.
* Abu Dhabi has started Phase III clinical trials of Russia’s experimental vaccine, known as Sputnik V, amid a surge in infections in the United Arab Emirates.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Bonds licked their wounds and stocks rose on Thursday as investors bet Democrat control of the U.S. Congress would enable President-elect Joe Biden to borrow and spend heavily, with a bruised dollar hovering near its lowest in almost three years. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Spain’s gross domestic product likely expanded in the fourth quarter of last year despite business restrictions imposed to curb the second wave of coronavirus contagion, Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said.
* Tunisia’s tourism revenue plunged by 65% in 2020 compared with 2019, to around $746 million, as the impact of the pandemic dealt a severe blow to the economy.
(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska and Ramakrishnan M.; Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila and Andrew Heavens)
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