in-cyprus 4 June 2020 -Josephine Koumettou
Last updated: 04/06/2020 08:41
The World Health Organization (WHO) will resume its trial of hydroxychloroquine for potential use against the coronavirus, its chief said, after those running the study briefly stopped giving it to new patients on health concerns.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* More than 6.51 million people have been reported infected with the new coronavirus globally and 384,955 have died, a Reuters tally showed as of 0222 GMT on Thursday.
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, click here.
EUROPE
* The Spanish government on Wednesday secured parliament’s backing for a final extension to the state of emergency imposed to tackle the coronavirus and which will now last until June 21.
* British doctors are testing a formulation of anti-inflammatory ibuprofen to see if it reduces respiratory failure in patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms.
* Sweden’s chief epidemiologist said the country should have done more to combat the coronavirus but backed the broad strategy, which avoided the strict lockdowns.
* Germany said it will lift a travel ban for European Union members plus Britain, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland from 15 June as long as there are no entry bans or large-scale lockdowns in those countries.
* Austria is lifting all coronavirus-related border restrictions including quarantines for all neighbouring countries except Italy as of Thursday.
AMERICAS
* The Trump administration has selected five companies, including Moderna Inc, AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer Inc, as the most likely candidates to produce a vaccine for the coronavirus, the New York Times reported.
* The U.S. Senate unanimously approved legislation on Wednesday giving small businesses up to 24 weeks to use Paycheck Protection Program loans, up from the current eight-week deadline.
* Confusion, complaints of missing mail-in ballots and long lines at some polling centres marred primary elections on Tuesday in eight states and the District of Columbia, the biggest test yet of voting during the coronavirus outbreak.
* Amazon.com Inc has been sued for allegedly fostering the spread of the coronavirus by mandating unsafe working conditions, causing at least one employee to contract COVID-19, bring it home and see her cousin die.
* Brazil registered record daily deaths from the coronavirus for a second consecutive day, according to Health Ministry data released on Wednesday, even as city and state authorities move to open commerce back up.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* China denied a report that said it delayed sharing COVID-19 information with the World Health Organization.
* India’s government has approved Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral drug remdesivir for emergency use for five doses in treating COVID-19 patients.
* Two children suspected to be South Korea’s first cases of a life-threatening syndrome linked with the virus were found to have contracted Kawasaki disease, a similar but separate infection.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Turkey’s health minister said on Wednesday his team would not recommend extending a weekend stay-at-home order nearly two months after it was imposed.
* Protestors in Dakar set tyres on fire and threw stones at security forces on Wednesday night during protests over a nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed almost three months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* Asian shares rose to a two-month high on Thursday as government stimulus expectations supported investor confidence in an economic recovery from the global coronavirus pandemic.
* Italy’s unemployment rate plummeted to 6.3% in April, the lowest for more than 12 years, as people stopped looking for work.
* Australia’s economy has fallen into recession, the country’s treasurer said, after data showed gross domestic product fell last quarter.
* The coronavirus pandemic further hit Germany’s labour market in May as companies continued to slash thousands of jobs and put millions of employees on reduced working hours.
(Reuters)
Pictured: A staff member of All Nippon Airways wearing a protective mask and a face shields works at a check-in counter amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
