(Reuters) – Australian officials have warned Sydney residents to brace for a surge in infections, while daily cases hit a six-month high in the United States as the Delta variant ravaged Florida and other states with lower vaccination rates.
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
* Russia has administered COVID-19 vaccines to 38.9 million people, about 27% of its population, health minister Mikhail Murashko said on Thursday.
* France’s highest court upheld a new law requiring the public to hold a health pass to access bars and restaurants and health workers to be vaccinated by mid-September, saying it complied with the republic’s founding charter.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* China reported on Friday its highest daily count for new coronavirus cases in its current outbreak, fuelled by a surge in locally transmitted infections.
* South Korea for the first time recognised a nursing assistant who suffered paralysis after receiving a vaccine as a victim of an industrial accident.
* Vietnam’s capital Hanoi will extend its coronavirus restrictions for another 15 days until Aug. 22.
AMERICAS
* Brazil’s northeastern states suspended plans to import Russia COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V due to the conditions set by the country’s health regulator Anvisa, Piauí state’s governor, Wellington Dias, said on Thursday.
* The United States is working to give additional COVID-19 booster shots to Americans with compromised immune systems as quickly as possible, as cases of the novel coronavirus continue to rise, top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
* A U.S. judge has ordered the Biden administration to quickly respond to a legal challenge to a new eviction moratorium put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Senegal’s Institut Pasteur of Dakar (IPD) has reached a deal with U.S. company MedInstill for the bottling of COVID-19 shots, an EU document shows, marking a step to becoming a fully-fledged maker of coronavirus vaccines for Africa.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Antibody levels in people inoculated with CanSino Biologics’ single-dose vaccine fell by some 30% after six months, however a booster shot could offer a significant lift, a senior executive said.
* A South African study has shown the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine offers over 90% protection against death.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares lost ground on Friday despite gains on Wall Street, as the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus across the region heightened worries about its economic recovery. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Australia’s central bank board considered delaying tapering its bond purchases from next month but decided against it, saying fiscal stimulus was a “more appropriate” tool to deal with virus lockdowns.
* U.S. job growth likely remained robust in July amid shifts in seasonal employment at schools caused by the pandemic, which could mask some softening in underlying labor market conditions.
(Compiled by Ramakrishnan M., Shinjini Ganguli and Devika Syamnath; Editing by Maju Samuel and Subhranshu Sahu)
