The coronavirus tally passed the 8 million mark in Latin America, the region with the most infections in the world, while India reported another record daily jump of 96,551 cases.
AMERICAS
* The Brazilian state of Bahia has signed an agreement to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials for Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 and plans to buy 50 million doses to market in Brazil, officials said.
* United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for $35 billion more for the World Health Organization’s “ACT Accelerator” program to back vaccines, treatments and diagnostics against COVID-19.
* The U.S. Senate killed a Republican bill that would have provided around $300 billion in new coronavirus aid, as Democrats seeking far more funding prevented it from advancing.
* The U.S. Labor Department said it cited Smithfield Foods for failing to protect employees from the coronavirus, making it the first major meatpacker to face a fine after outbreaks at slaughterhouses infected thousands of workers.
EUROPE
* France recorded almost 10,000 new infections on Thursday, its highest ever single-day total, a day before a cabinet meeting that might consider imposing fresh, local lockdowns to curb the spread of the disease.
* Portugal is back among the countries from which travellers must quarantine when entering England, less than a month after it was put on the safe list.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia’s state leaders defended regional shutdowns and internal border closures against increased federal government pressure for restrictive coronavirus measures to be lifted as new case numbers ease.
* South Korea posted a slight uptick in the daily number of its cases on Friday even as infections from a church and a political rally that sparked a second wave of outbreaks ease.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* An Israeli company expects to receive results in the coming week from a Beijing lab that will test whether a fabric it has developed will be able to neutralise 99% of COVID-19, even after being washed multiple times.
* Jordan confirmed the first three cases in the country’s largest camp for Syrian refugees, just a few days after discovering two cases in a smaller camp.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Political polarisation and online misinformation are threatening vaccination programmes worldwide, according to a global vaccine confidence study.
* International donors have raised $700 million - less than half the target - to purchase future coronavirus vaccines for poor countries, a WHO official said.
* Turkey is considering a request from Russia to conduct Phase III trials of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding a decision would be made in the next week.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Japanese companies plan to make the deepest cut in capital expenditure in more than a decade this year as the pandemic hits profits, a government survey showed, underscoring the broadening economic impact of the health crisis.
Reuters
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