(Reuters) – Australia’s New South Wales has recorded the first rise in infections in three days, even as it accelerates vaccinations, while New Zealand reported a further fall in locally acquired COVID-19 cases.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* Spain’s healthcare regulator approved a third dose of vaccines for people with severely compromised immune systems who are likely to have weaker protection from the conventional two-dose inoculation schemes.
* Sweden will push ahead with easing restrictions at the end of this month, removing most curbs and limits on public venues such as restaurants, theatres and stadiums.
* The European Union is likely to remove Japan and five other countries from its list of safe travel destinations.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* The Philippines capital region will remain under the second strictest coronavirus containment measures, despite a day earlier announcing a relaxation of curbs to spur business activity.
* Indonesia’s daily coronavirus positivity rate dropped below the World Health Organization’s benchmark standard of 5% this week for the first time.
* Many top Indian epidemiologists and social scientists are urging authorities to reopen in-person school classes for all age groups, saying the benefits outweigh the risks especially as poor rural children are missing out on online education.
AMERICAS
* President Joe Biden on Thursday will present a six-pronged strategy intended to fight the spread of the Delta variant and increase U.S. vaccinations.
* The U.S. state of Idaho has activated “crisis standards of care” to allow for healthcare rationing at hospitals in northern parts of the state due to a surge in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization.
* Venezuela has received its first batch of vaccines through COVAX, the Pan-American Health Organization said.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Saudi Arabia removed the United Arab Emirates, Argentina and South Africa from its entry banned country list and re-allowed citizens to travel to the three countries starting Sept. 8, state TV reported.
* The International Monetary Fund’s executive board on Tuesday approved $567 million in emergency support for Tanzania to help it finance a vaccination campaign and meet the health and social costs of the pandemic.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* AstraZeneca’s CEO has said booster doses may not be needed for everyone in Britain and rushing into a nationwide rollout of third doses risks piling extra pressure on the National Health Service, the Telegraph reported.
* Vaccine makers ought to make their approved shots available for trials or risk hobbling the development of more vaccines, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said.
* Hundreds of thousands of people will die of tuberculosis left untreated because of disruption to healthcare systems in poor countries caused by the pandemic, a global aid fund said.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares hovered just off six-week highs on Wednesday, as a more risk-averse mood spread into the market from the United States overnight due to worries about slowing growth that hurt equities while helping the dollar firm. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Japan’s economy grew faster than initially estimated in the April-June quarter, helped by solid capital expenditure, although a resurgence in COVID-19 is undermining service-sector consumption and clouding the outlook.
* China will maintain a prudent monetary policy and not resort to flood-like stimulus, said Pan Gongsheng, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China.
* More U.S. workers are switching jobs and asking for higher wages as the labour market continues to heal from the crisis caused by the pandemic, according to a survey released Tuesday by the New York Federal Reserve.
(Compiled by Ramakrishnan M. and Amy Caren Daniel; Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)
