(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson said it would take a few days to hear from a safety monitoring panel about its review of the company’s late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trial after announcing that the study had been paused due to an unexplained illness in one participant.
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.
* Eikon users, see MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* Russia reported record high daily coronavirus cases and deaths, pushing total infections to 1,326,178, but authorities said they do not plan to impose lockdowns across the country.
* The United Kingdom reported 143 new deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest daily figure since June, as parts of the country faced tougher social distancing restrictions under a new three-tiered alert system.
* Hundreds of primary care doctors went on strike in the Spanish region of Catalonia calling for better working conditions as cases rise.
* Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive, Portugal’s Football Federation said.
* Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he had gone into quarantine after coming into contact with a person who tested positive. Poland reported 5,068 new cases on Tuesday, only the second time the figure has passed 5,000 in a 24-hour period since the pandemic began.
* Ukraine’s government voted to extend the lockdown until the end of the year.
* The Netherlands reached a new record in daily cases, hitting nearly 7,400 infections in 24 hours.
* Italy imposed new restrictions on gatherings, restaurants, sports and school activities.
AMERICAS
* U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected President Donald Trump’s latest offer on COVID-19 stimulus, in the latest sign that a bipartisan deal on coronavirus relief remains unlikely ahead of the November election.
* The case of a man in the United States infected twice with COVID-19 shows there is much yet to learn about immune responses and also raises questions over vaccination, scientists said.
* Mexico plans to vaccinate more than 116 million people, or roughly 90% of its population, by the end of 2021 after reaching accords with pharmaceutical companies and the World Health Organization-backed COVAX plan.
* Argentina surpassed 900,000 cases on Monday, with strong growth of infections in large populated centers in the interior of the country.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Asia-Pacific countries including Singapore, Australia, Japan and Thailand are gradually easing some international travel restrictions as cases slow, in hopes of helping to revive their economies.
* The Philippines on Tuesday reported 1,990 new infections, the lowest number in three weeks, and 40 additional deaths.
* India’s total cases rose by 55,342 in the last 24 hours to 7.18 million on Tuesday morning, the lowest daily rise since mid-August.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran’s death toll rose by 254 to 29,070 on Tuesday, as the number of confirmed cases spiked to 508,389 in the hardest-hit Middle Eastern country.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Russia’s health ministry has approved a trial of the Sputnik V vaccine on 110 volunteers over the age of 60, the RIA news agency cited the ministry as saying on Tuesday.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* European shares struggled on Tuesday as worries over the pandemic overshadowed Chinese trade data that pointed to a buoyant recovery, while the U.S. dollar edged away from a three-week low. [MKTS/GLOB]
* World oil demand will rebound more slowly in 2021 than previously thought as cases rise, OPEC said.
* A slow economic recovery from the pandemic threatens to delay a full rebound in world energy demand to 2025, the International Energy Agency said.
* Ireland offered more support to those hit hardest by some of Europe’s toughest COVID-19 restrictions in a big budget stimulus package.
(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska and Aditya Soni; Editing by Arun Koyyur and)
