FILE PHOTO: A woman sits with her child inside a quarantine centre for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients amidst the spread of the disease at an indoor sports complex in New Delhi, India, September 22, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
Reuters
US.President Donald Trump faced a fresh backlash for removing his mask when he returned to the White House and urging Americans not to fear the COVID-19 disease that has killed more than 209,000 people in the country and put him in hospital.
AMERICAS
* White House officials are blocking new federal guidelines for the emergency release of a vaccine, including one that would likely ensure that no vaccine could be authorized before the Nov. 3 presidential election, the New York Times reported on Monday.
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday said COVID-19 can spread through virus lingering in the air, sometimes for hours.
* Mexico on Monday reported a record jump of 2,789 deaths and 28,115 cases due to what the government said was a change in methodology.
* Argentina has the world's highest rate of positive tests, according to Oxford-linked tracker Our World In Data, with nearly six out of 10 yielding an infection.
EUROPE
* The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she would leave quarantine after having been in contact with someone positive for COVID-19 a week earlier, despite EU recommendations of 14 days of self-isolation.
* Britain has rationed its supplies of the antiviral drug remdesivir and is prioritising COVID-19 patients who need it most in the face of rising demand, Britain's health ministry said.
* Spain became the first Western European nation to surpass 800,000 total cases.
* Ireland's government is set to reject a surprise recommendation by its health chiefs to go into lockdown and will instead propose a tightening of current restrictions, two government sources said.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia will spend A$4 billion over the next year to pay businesses that hire those under the age of 35 as part of an ambitious plan to boost jobs and growth.
* Japan plans to conduct stress tests on its five major financial institutions this year that look into how the pandemic could affect their earnings and capital, the central bank said.
* Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday approved a 10.6 billion baht ($339 million) project to create jobs to support its rural economy and reduce poverty.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran's Health Ministry said on Monday nearly the whole country was on a red alert as cases and deaths rose to record levels, with a member of the state task force warning field hospitals might be needed if people flout the rules.
* A drastic rise in infections has pushed Lebanon's hospitals to the edge, and experts warn they will soon be unable to cope.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* China is in talks to have its locally-produced COVID-19 vaccines assessed by the World Health Organization, as a step toward making them available for international use, a WHO official said.
* Europe's health regulator said it has started a rolling review of the experimental vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* World stock markets neared a more than two-week high on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the White House from hospital, and expectations of a new U.S. stimulus package being agreed rose.
* Five hundred of the world’s leading charities and social groups have sent a letter to the International Monetary Fund warning that its support programmes, which have had to be ramped up to cope with COVID-19, were condemning many countries to years of austerity.
* A second wave of the pandemic risks delaying the euro zone's economic recovery, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said.
