(Reuters) – A 10-week decline in new coronavirus infections across Europe has come to an end and a new wave of infections is inevitable if citizens and lawmakers do not remain disciplined, the head of WHO in Europe, Hans Kluge, told a news briefing on Thursday.
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
* Germany expects the Delta variant of COVID-19 to account for up to 80% of infections this month, meaning it could ease travel restrictions from countries like Portugal and Britain where it already dominates, the German health minister said.
* Health clinics in Moscow will begin offering booster vaccine shots against COVID-19 on Thursday, the city’s mayor said, as Russian officials scramble to contain a surge in cases blamed on the highly infectious Delta variant.
* Britain is working with countries across the European Union to encourage them to accept its fully vaccinated travellers, its business minister said, as momentum builds for a fuller reopening of travel from the United Kingdom.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Indonesia will tighten quarantine and boost testing and vaccinations for COVID-19 and would extend emergency measures if infections do not decline within three weeks, its government said.
* President Joko Widodo said that Indonesia will bring in emergency measures running until July 20 aimed at containing an exponential spike in coronavirus cases that has strained the country’s medical system.
* Japan is considering an extension of two weeks to a month for coronavirus prevention measures in Tokyo and other areas, Japanese media said.
AMERICAS
* COVID-19-related deaths in Mexico likely exceed the confirmed toll by about 60%, Health Ministry data showed.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* The Tunisian government extended the hours of night curfew, as the North Africa country reached a daily record of cases since the start of the pandemic last year.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* CureVac said its COVID-19 vaccine was 48% effective in the final analysis of its pivotal mass trial, only marginally better than the 47% reported after an initial read-out two weeks ago.
* Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila said on Thursday it has applied to the country’s drug regulator for emergency use approval of its COVID-19 vaccine, which showed a 66.6% efficacy against positive cases in an interim analysis.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Europe’s financial markets made a solid start to the second half of the year on Thursday, with stocks brushing off a rapid re-acceleration in the region’s coronavirus cases and both the dollar and oil extending their strong first half rallies.[MKTS/GLOB]
* The euro zone’s economy may well avoid the most pessimistic scenario envisaged at the start of the pandemic but it still faces risks from virus mutations, the European Central Bank’s President Christine Lagarde said.
* Turkey’s pandemic-era ban on layoffs and a government wage support system, both adopted in early 2020, expired on Thursday as most remaining coronavirus restrictions were also lifted, setting the stage for a rise in unemployment.
* India’s factory activity contracted for the first time in almost a year in June as restrictions to contain the deadly second wave of the coronavirus triggered declines in demand and output that pushed firms to cut more jobs, a private survey showed.
(Compiled by Amy Caren Daniel and Jagoda Darlak; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta and William Maclean)
