(Reuters) – China reported its biggest daily jump in new COVID-19 cases in more than 10 months, as the World Health Organization’s team of scientists arrived in the country’s central city of Wuhan to investigate the pandemic’s origins.
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
* Britain has started allowing hospitals to discharge COVID-19 patients who have completed 14 days in isolation without showing symptoms into care homes without re-testing.
* Spain reported a record number of new infections on Wednesday in the wake of the Christmas holidays.
* Switzerland tightened measures to tackle new variants of the virus, while Denmark extended hard lockdown measures by at least three weeks.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* The state premier of Australia’s Queensland said she was considering using remote mining camps to quarantine international arrivals.
* The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine.
AMERICAS
* As the United States recorded its highest single-day death toll, New York’s mayor said the city would fall short of its inoculation goals unless it gets more vaccines.
* Brazil said it would start vaccinating its population using shots imported from China and India as soon as the health regulator approves their use.
* Colombia will extend a so-called selective quarantine until the end of February.
* The Cuban government is once more shutting down schools, public transport and cultural activities.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* The African Union has secured a provisional 270 million vaccine doses from manufacturers for member states to supplement the COVAX programme.
* Lebanon’s Caretaker Health Minister on Wednesday tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to the hospital.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Johnson & Johnson is on track to roll out its single-shot vaccine in March, and expects to have clear data on how effective it is by the end of this month or early February.
* Alexion Pharmaceuticals paused enrollment in a late-stage study testing its rare blood-disorder drug in adults with severe COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation.
* People who have had COVID-19 are highly likely to have immunity to it for at least five months, a UK study has found.
* Gut bacteria may influence COVID-19 severity and immune response, while diabetes was found to add risks to black patients infected with the virus, studies showed.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* A boom in Britain’s housing market has started to fade, dampened by new lockdowns and the coming expiry of a temporary tax cut for buyers, a survey showed.
* Japan’s core machinery orders unexpectedly rose for a second straight month in November, although a renewed coronavirus emergency in several areas may cool business appetite for capital spending.
* Bonds slipped, Japanese stocks jumped to a three-decade high and other Asian equities loitered near record peaks on Thursday as investors focused on U.S. stimulus prospects and extended bets on global recovery and growth. [MKTS/GLOB]
(Compiled by Ramakrishnan M. and Devika Syamnath; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
