(Reuters) – Canada entered a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and cases continued to rise across the hard-hit Latin American region, while a raft of lacklustre data from major global economies revived concerns about the resilience of an economic recovery.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.
* For a U.S.-focused tracker with a state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.
* Eikon users, see MacroVitals cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
AMERICAS
* U.S. President Donald Trump said he may or may not approve any new, more stringent FDA standards for an emergency authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine.
* Mexico’s death toll rose to 74,949 on Wednesday, according to health ministry data, while Brazil recorded 33,281 additional confirmed cases in the past 24 hours.
* Canada “is at a crossroads” as a second wave emerges in four large provinces, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, adding that, “we’re on the brink of a fall that could be much worse than the spring.”
EUROPE
* New cases of COVID-19 in Russia have risen to 6,595, official daily data showed on Thursday, the biggest rise in over two months, and new infections in Moscow surpassed 1,000 for the first time since late June.
* Poland was hit by a record daily rise in cases on Thursday attributable to increased direct contact between people after a lifting of restrictions, the health ministry said.
* Britain’s finance minister will announce more job protection plans on Thursday, likely to include a new wage subsidy scheme, to stem unemployment in the pandemic-ravaged economy after existing safeguards expire next month.
* Austria is issuing coronavirus-related travel warnings for Prague and the French regions that include Paris and the Cote d’Azur while lifting a long-standing warning for Sweden, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia’s Victoria state said the number of new daily infections was close to a three-month low, buoying hopes that restrictions will be eased sooner than expected.
* Indonesia reported 4,465 new cases on Wednesday, its biggest daily rise.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran’s death toll from the coronavirus rose by 175 to 25,015 on Thursday, the highest in the Middle East, with the total number of identified cases spiking to 436,319 in the country, according to health ministry.
* Israel’s cabinet decided to tighten the lockdown after PM Benjamin Netanyahu voiced alarm that a surge in infections was pushing the nation to “the edge of the abyss”, the YNet news site said.
* The United Arab Emirates reported its highest daily number of infections since the start of the pandemic at 1,083 new cases.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* AstraZeneca is still waiting for the U.S. drug regulator to approve the restart of the clinical trial of its potential COVID-19 vaccine in the United States almost three weeks after it was paused due to safety concerns.
* Johnson & Johnson began a 60,000-person trial of an experimental single-shot COVID-19 vaccine that, if proven effective, could simplify distribution of millions of doses compared with leading rivals requiring two doses.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Global shares slid and the dollar rose on Thursday on investor concern about another economic hit from the pandemic, ahead of German sentiment data and speeches from a clutch of central bankers. [MKTS/GLOB]
* The coronavirus crisis is lasting longer than expected and it will take some countries years to return to growth, the No. 2 official at the International Monetary Fund said.
* U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers vowed to keep interest rates near zero, while business activity cooled in September, with gains at factories offset by a retreat at services industries.
* Euro zone business growth ground to a halt this month as fresh restrictions to quell a resurgence in infections slammed the services industry into reverse.
(Compiled by Anna Rzhevkina, Devika Syamnath and Amy Caren Daniel; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Subhranshu Sahu)
