(Reuters) – The World Health Organization told a U.N. briefing on Tuesday that 1 million deaths from COVID-19 was “a very sad milestone”, but the virus is suppressable. The number of deaths this year is now double the number of people who die annually from malaria — and the death rate has increased in recent weeks as infections surge in several countries.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of COVID-19, open https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/ 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.
EUROPE
* Moscow extended an upcoming school holiday by a week, days after sources said the capital’s hospitals had been told to free up hundreds of beds.
* Angela Merkel’s government wants to restrict the size of parties in Germany, a draft resolution seen by Reuters showed.
* British university students will be able to return home for Christmas despite local lockdowns that are already impacting them in large parts of the country, the education secretary said.
AMERICAS
* The U.S. meatpacking industry, where workers often work side-by-side for long shifts, has suffered severe outbreaks with some companies rejecting applications for workers’ compensation after deaths and illnesses.
* A new adviser is giving President Donald Trump misleading or incorrect virus information, two top U.S. public health experts said, according to media reports. The adviser defended his advice to the president, who says the United States is “rounding the corner” on the pandemic.
* Colombia will extend a selective quarantine for the duration of October, and a U.N. rights expert urged the country to suspend some Cerrejon mine operations citing health and environmental concerns.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* The pandemic is expected to lead to the slowest growth in more than 50 years in East Asia and the Pacific as well as China, while up to 38 million people are set to be pushed back into poverty, the World Bank said. [nL4N2GQ0JZ]
* India has recorded the highest daily infections growth in the world, with an average of 87,500 new cases a day since the beginning of September.
* Malaysia’s largest palm oil producing will allow one district to resume operations it had ordered closed for two weeks, an industry group said.
* Australian defence personnel are being deployed to Port Hedland, one of the world’s largest iron ore loading ports, to help contain an outbreak on a bulk carrier that last changed crews in Manila.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran’s confirmed cases crossed 450,000 on Tuesday, as its death toll spiked to 25,986.
* South Africa’s car makers have asked the government to reduce taxes on new vehicle purchases as part of a proposed stimulus package for the coronavirus-hit sector.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Nine in ten coronavirus patients reported side-effects such as fatigue, psychological after-effects and loss of smell and taste after they recovered, according to a preliminary study.
* The GAVI vaccine alliance said it had agreed a new collaboration with India’s Serum Institute that will make an extra 100 million doses of vaccines available for low and middle income countries.
* Russia plans to share preliminary results of its vaccine trial.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* European shares slipped on Tuesday as investors awaited a pivotal U.S. presidential debate and watched for progress of a fiscal stimulus package in Washington. [MKTS/GLOB]
* G20 energy ministers reaffirmed a commitment to “ensure that the energy sector continues to make a full, effective contribution to overcoming COVID-19”.
* China’s new “dual circulation” economic strategy is not a short-term measure to cope with the pandemic or frictions with the United States, an adviser to cabinet said.
(Compiled by Sarah Morland; Editing by Alison Williams)
