China sees jump in new cases, 270m vaccine doses for AU members

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By Reuters Time of article published25m ago

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China reported its biggest daily jump in new Covid-19 cases in more than 10 months, as the World Health Organization’s team of scientists arrived in the country’s central city of Wuhan to investigate the pandemic’s origins.

EUROPE

* Britain has started allowing hospitals to discharge Covid-19 patients who have completed 14 days in isolation without showing symptoms into care homes without re-testing.

* Spain reported a record number of new infections on Wednesday in the wake of the Christmas holidays.

* Switzerland tightened measures to tackle new variants of the virus, while Denmark extended hard lockdown measures by at least three weeks.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* The state premier of Australia’s Queensland said she was considering using remote mining camps to quarantine international arrivals.

* The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 vaccine.

AMERICAS

* As the United States recorded its highest single-day death toll, New York’s mayor said the city would fall short of its inoculation goals unless it gets more vaccines.

* Brazil said it would start vaccinating its population using shots imported from China and India as soon as the health regulator approves their use.

* Colombia will extend a so-called selective quarantine until the end of February.

* The Cuban government is once more shutting down schools, public transport and cultural activities.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* The African Union has secured a provisional 270 million vaccine doses from manufacturers for member states to supplement the Covax programme.

* Lebanon’s Caretaker Health Minister on Wednesday tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to the hospital.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Johnson & Johnson is on track to roll out its single-shot vaccine in March, and expects to have clear data on how effective it is by the end of this month or early February.

* Alexion Pharmaceuticals paused enrollment in a late-stage study testing its rare blood-disorder drug in adults with severe Covid-19 requiring mechanical ventilation.

* People who have had Covid-19 are highly likely to have immunity to it for at least five months, a UK study has found.

* Gut bacteria may influence Covid-19 severity and immune response, while diabetes was found to add risks to black patients infected with the virus, studies showed.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* A boom in Britain’s housing market has started to fade, dampened by new lockdowns and the coming expiry of a temporary tax cut for buyers, a survey showed.

* Japan’s core machinery orders unexpectedly rose for a second straight month in November, although a renewed coronavirus emergency in several areas may cool business appetite for capital spending.

* Bonds slipped, Japanese stocks jumped to a three-decade high and other Asian equities loitered near record peaks on Thursday as investors focused on US stimulus prospects and extended bets on global recovery and growth.

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