(Reuters) – Australia tightened curbs in three cities to contain flare-ups of the highly infectious Delta variant, while COVID-19 infections in Africa are set to likely exceed previous peaks within days.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* The share of COVID-19 cases caused by the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus more than doubled in Germany within a week and is likely to gain more traction over other variants, a senior health official was quoted as saying.
* Greece will offer its young people a 150 euro ($180) cash card and a free month of phone data to get their first COVID-19 shot, in a government drive to boost vaccination rates in the build-up to the holidays.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Indonesia’s government will wait until COVID-19 cases fall significantly before opening Bali to foreign tourists, the country’s tourism minister said.
* Johnson & Johnson will not be undertaking local trials for its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine in India, the Economic Times reported.
* President Rodrigo Duterte has prolonged restrictions on movement and businesses in the Philippine capital and nearby provinces until mid-July, and retained stricter COVID-19 curbs in central and southern areas, an official said.
* Australia’s deputy prime minister was fined for failing to wear a mask in a service station in violation of COVID-19 prevention orders, the authorities said.
* Vietnam’s health ministry said it had approved Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
* South Korea’s large manufacturing employers have received permission from the country’s health authorities to administer COVID-19 vaccines at in-house clinics.
* A further 410,000 doses of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine will arrive in Taiwan on Wednesday, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen said.
AMERICAS
* The United States said on Monday it will donate one million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to Paraguay.
* Colombia said it will receive a U.S. donation of 2.5 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Janssen, the pharmaceutical unit of Johnson & Johnson.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* COVID-19 infections in Africa will likely exceed previous peaks within days, underscoring an urgent need to accelerate vaccine supplies and financing to the region, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.
* Nigeria is adding South Africa to its “red list” of countries for which there are stringent restrictions for arriving passengers, officials said.
* Tanzania will spend $470 million buying vaccines and supporting economic sectors hit hard by the coronavirus, President Samia Suluhu Hassan said.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* A third shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produces a strong immune response, researchers said, adding there was not yet evidence that such shots were needed, especially given shortages in some countries.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares edged lower on Tuesday on concerns new coronavirus outbreaks in the region could undercut an economic recovery even as robust momentum in the United States prompts the Federal Reserve to contemplate a quicker exit from accommodative policy. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Japan’s declining trend in new coronavirus infections is helping private consumption recover, especially in regions that are not implementing quasi-emergency curbs, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.
* The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) said economic activity was returning to pre-COVID-19 levels.
(Compiled by Amy Caren Daniel)
