(Reuters) – New York City will require proof of vaccination for indoor activities including restaurants, gyms and performances, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news
EUROPE
* A Russian court found Lyubov Sobol, a close ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, guilty of breaching COVID-19 safety regulations and restricted her movement for a year-and-a-half, her lawyer said.
* Five Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland are set to defy COVID-19 restrictions after instructing local parishes to hold communion and confirmation services this month, drawing a sharp rebuke from the government, which has pleaded with them to wait until it considers further easing curbs later this month.
* Greece have withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics artistic swimming competitions after four of their athletes tested positive, the Greek Olympic Committee said.
* France’s overseas territory of Guadeloupe will to go into a new lockdown for at least three weeks.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Coronavirus infections are surging among Japanese in their 20s and 30s while more of those in their 40s and 50s are getting seriously ill, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said.
* South Korea has detected its first two cases of the new Delta Plus COVID-19 variant, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said, as the country battles with its fourth wave of infections.
* Vietnam is set to approve the use of Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of patients with COVID-19, state media reported.
* Vietnam plans to stockpile rice purchased from domestic farmers in a bid to help growers affected by strict movement curbs and low export prices offload their harvest.
* New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s COVID-19 test result is negative, a government spokesman confirmed.
AMERICAS
* The United States has donated over 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 60 countries so far, the White House said, as the world continued to grapple with the fast-spreading Delta variant.
* The U.S. states of Florida and Louisiana were at or near their highest hospitalization numbers of the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, driven by the still-spreading Delta variant.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Morocco will lengthen its night curfew as it tightens restrictions to counter a surge in infections.
* Nigeria has received 4 million doses of Moderna’s vaccines donated by the United States government, as the West African country battles a third wave of infections.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Argentina’s Laboratorios Richmond will produce over 3 million doses of the second component of the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine this month, the company said in a joint statement with Russian sovereign fund RDIF.
* Combining AstraZeneca’s vaccine with a second dose from either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s jab provides “good protection”, Denmark’s State Serum Institute said.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* U.S. stocks, 10-year Treasurys and oil prices were mixed ahead of corporate earnings and economic growth signals that investors hope will clarify the investment outlook. [MKTS/GLOB]
* The resumption of indoor service in Irish restaurants and bars pushed the number of people claiming temporary COVID-19 jobless benefits down 15% in the last week, the largest fall since the economy’s longest lockdown began to be unwound.
(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska; Editing by Giles Elgood)
