(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is experiencing mild symptoms after testing positive for the coronavirus, administration officials said, as the White House and presidential election campaign scrambled to adjust to the bombshell development.
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.
AMERICAS
* U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has tested negative for coronavirus, his spokesman said. Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump, also has tested negative
* Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife Jill have tested negative for coronavirus, their doctor said in a statement.
EUROPE
* Northern Ireland reported 934 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, more than double the previous record daily total rate registered two days ago in the British-run region.
* Britain reported 6,968 new cases on Friday, up from Thursday’s figure of 6,914 but below the peak of 7,143 given on Tuesday.
* Poland’s daily cases topped 2,000 for the first time, the latest record in a surge in infections that has raised the possibility that tougher restrictions will be introduced.
* Russia does not plan to reimpose lockdowns across the country for now, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, as it reported 9,412 new cases on Friday, its highest daily tally since May 23.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* New Zealanders will soon be able to travel to Australia without having to self-quarantine as COVID-19 infections slow and Canberra seeks to revive its ailing economy, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said.
* Malaysian authorities warned of a new wave of cases after a spike in new infections following an election in the country’s second largest state Sabah.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Turkey’s top medical association and the main opposition party criticised a decision by President Tayyip Erdogan’s government to publicly disclose new cases only if the patient is showing symptoms.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday the European Union was in talks with more companies to secure potential COVID-19 vaccines, as she warned of the “worrying” spike in infections in Europe.
* Clinical trials of AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine have resumed in Japan, almost a month after being put on hold due to an illness of a British volunteer, while discussions with U.S. authorities continue.
* Unlisted biotech firm IDT Biologika has won approval from Germany’s vaccine regulator to become the third German company after BioNTech and CureVac to launch human trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine in the country.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Global equity markets slumped and investors piled into safer gold and the Japanese yen on Friday after Trump and his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, adding to market uncertainty just 32 days before U.S. elections.[MKTS/GLOB]
* Japan’s unemployment rate rose in August to its highest in over three years and job availability fell to a more than six-year low, government data showed on Friday, indicating damage caused by the pandemic persisted through the month.
(Compiled by Anna Rzhevkina, Linda Pasquini, Devika Syamnath, and Vinay Dwivedi; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Shounak Dasgupta and Frances Kerry)
