Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus
(Reuters) – President Joe Biden will meet 10 moderate Republican senators on Monday to discuss their proposal to shrink his sweeping $1.9 trillion U.S. COVID-19 relief package, even as Democrats prepare to push legislation through Congress without Republican support.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals here for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed Pfizer and its partner BionTech will deliver 75 million extra doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to the European Union in the second quarter.
* Eleven people in different regions of England have tested positive for the South African coronavirus variant without having any links to people who have travelled.
* Portugal reported close to half of all its COVID-19 deaths in January, highlighting the severe worsening of the pandemic in a country whose plight has caused several European nations to offer help.
* The Madrid region will start relaxing its restrictions this week, even as the rest of Spain and Europe are toughening measures to tame a third wave of infection.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Hong Kong will extend social distancing measures for a further two weeks until after the Chinese New Year holiday, and will impose stricter testing rules when cases of COVID-19 are detected.
* Japan is expected to extend a state of emergency this week for Tokyo and other areas as hospitals remain under pressure despite a decline in cases from their peaks.
* Vietnam reported 32 more cases on Monday, all from capital Hanoi, and has shut schools in at least 22 cities and provinces since a new outbreak began in the country on Thursday.
AMERICAS
* Chicago teachers appeared headed for a strike or lockout over their latest dispute with the third-largest U.S. school district after the two sides failed to reach an deal on a COVID-19 safety plan even as they vowed to keep talking.
* The COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme expects to deliver 35.3 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine to 36 Caribbean and Latin American states from mid-February to the end of June.
* Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is “doing well” in his recovery from COVID-19, Mexico’s interior minister said.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* The airplane carrying South Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccine doses has landed at the OR Tambo international airport in Johannesburg.
* Israel said it supplied the Palestinians with their first shipment of COVID-19 shots, totalling 2,000 doses of Moderna’s vaccine.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* CureVac has signed up Bayer AG and contract drugmaker Rentschler to help to produce its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
* China’s Clover Biopharmaceuticals said it has terminated its partnership with GlaxoSmithKline to develop a vaccine using the British drugmaker’s adjuvant, even as early-stage trials showed positive results.
* About 1,500 of the initial volunteers in a late-stage clinical trial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine were given the wrong dose, but were not informed that a mistake had been made after the blunder was discovered, documents obtained by Reuters show.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Global shares bounced and silver markets surged on Monday as retail investors expanded their social media-fuelled battle with Wall Street to drive the precious metal to an eight-year high. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Rents have tumbled in Madrid and Barcelona because of the pandemic, property portal Idealista said, a stark contrast to once-saturated rental markets in which landlords could expect ever-higher returns.
* British manufacturers suffered a double hit last month as COVID-19 disruptions to global shipping combined with new trade barriers with the EU, according to a survey.
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