(Reuters) – COVID-19 deaths have decreased 17% in the Americas over the past week, but the most populous countries like the United States, Brazil and Colombia are seeing a leveling of new infections after weeks of declining trends, the Pan American Health Organization said.
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
* France registered more than 20,000 new confirmed coronavirus infections for the first time since Aug. 25 as the fifth wave picked up speed.
* Germany’s coronavirus situation is dramatic Chancellor Angela Merkel warned, calling for an extra push on vaccinations a day before federal and regional leaders meet to agree on measures to curb a fourth wave of the virus.
* Belgium tightened its coronavirus restrictions, mandating wider use of masks and enforcing work from home, as cases spiked in the country’s fourth COVID-19 wave.
* Spain is now offering third doses of vaccines to people aged 60 and over, expanding the booster shot programme from the previous age threshold of 70 as infections rise.
* Dutch health authorities said they were running short of COVID-19 tests, as the Netherlands registered more than 20,000 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, the highest since the pandemic began.
* Russia reported a new record one-day official death toll of 1,247 from COVID-19.
AMERICAS
* The United States has signed contracts worth about $1 billion for doses of the antibody-based COVID-19 treatment from Britain’s GSK and U.S.-based Vir Biotechnology, as countries seek to secure promising options beyond vaccines.
* The United States plans to invest billions of dollars in expanding COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity and make available an additional one billion doses per year, said White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* South Korea plans to cut to four months from six the gap for booster doses given to senior citizens as it looks to dampen a spike in serious cases, authorities said.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Moderna Inc said it had applied with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for authorization of its COVID-19 booster vaccine for all adults aged 18 and older.
* The European Union’s drug regulator said it could issue an opinion on Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine “within weeks” if the data it has received so far is sufficient to show the shot’s effectiveness and safety.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* The prospects of speedier interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and ongoing supply chain disruptions weighed on Wall Street on Wednesday, while oil dropped on concerns of oversupply and dwindling demand. [MKTS/GLOB]
* British inflation has hit a 10-year high as household energy bills rocket, bolstering expectations the Bank of England will raise interest rates in December just weeks after it rocked markets by keeping borrowing costs on hold.
(Compiled by Juliette Portala, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Vinay Dwivedi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sriraj Kalluvila)
