Nations in Asia have imposed new restrictions and an abrupt British quarantine on travellers from Spain threw Europe’s summer reopening into disarray, as the world confronted the prospect of a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
EUROPE
* Germany announced plans on Monday for free, mandatory coronavirus tests for holidaymakers returning from high-risk countries in order to slow the spread of coronavirus infections.
* Britain made a mistake when it decided at the weekend to slap a quarantine on people travelling from Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, saying much of the Mediterranean country had a lower coronavirus infection rate than the UK.
* Belgium announced measures on Monday including a sharp reduction in permitted social contact designed to prevent a return to a nationwide coronavirus-led lockdown.
* A pet cat has tested positive in England for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the government said on Monday in the first confirmed case of an animal being infected with the virus in Britain.
AMERICAS
* Senate Republicans on Monday proposed a $1 trillion coronavirus aid package hammered out with the White House, paving the way for talks with Democrats on how to help Americans as expanded unemployment benefits for millions of workers expire this week.
* U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien has tested positive for the coronavirus, but there is no risk of Trump or Vice President Mike Pence having been exposed, the White House said.
* Bolivian interim President Jeanine Anez said on Tuesday she had recovered from the coronavirus and returned to work.
* Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday took off his mask in public as he greeted supporters in Brasilia, days after saying he had recovered from the coronavirus.
* Just four days after beginning a truncated coronavirus-delayed season, Major League Baseball ran into a serious obstacle on Monday with the postponement of scheduled games due to a COVID-19 outbreak among Miami Marlins players.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Japan’s government is pushing ahead with the distribution of its much derided masks even though commercially made masks are now readily available, prompting a renewed outcry on social media.
* Vietnam has suspended all flights to and from Danang for 15 days after at least 14 cases of the novel coronavirus had been detected in the city.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Kenya extended a nightly curfew on Monday for 30 days to curb the spread of COVID-19 and banned alcohol sales in restaurants but stopped short of locking down the country again despite a surge in cases.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc launched two 30,000-subject trials of COVID-19 vaccines that could clear the way for regulatory approval and widespread use by the end of this year, the companies said on Monday.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* Gold hurtled to record peaks on Tuesday before the sheer scale of its gains drew a burst of profit taking, which lifted the dollar from two-year lows and curbed early equity gains.
* Oil prices rose for a third straight day, buoyed by support for demand coming from efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis and a weakening of the dollar that makes crude cheaper for global buyers.
* Britain’s surprise move to quarantine passengers arriving from Spain dealt a heavy blow to European airlines already reeling from the coronavirus crisis.
