(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
UK reopens for business
Friends will hug, pints will be pulled and swathes of the British economy will reopen on Monday giving 65 million people a measure of freedom after a four-month lockdown.
During England’s lockdowns police broke up parties and protests alike, shut down religious services and handed out fines of up to 10,000 pounds ($14,000) to youngsters for partying.
A four-month long ban on travel between Britain and Portugal ended on Monday, allowing visitors to soak up the sun on Portuguese beaches once again in a much-needed boost for the struggling tourism sector.
India’s virus cases decline
India reported a further decline in new coronavirus cases though daily deaths remained above 4,000 and experts warned that the count was unreliable due to a lack of testing in rural areas, where the virus is spreading fast.
For months now, nowhere in the world has been hit harder than India by the pandemic, as a new strain of the virus first found there fuelled a surge in infections that has risen to more than 400,000 daily.
Even with a downturn over the past few days, experts said there was no certainty that infections had peaked, with alarm growing both at home and abroad over the new more contagious B.1.617 variant taking hold.
Singapore shuts schools
Singapore warned on Sunday that the new coronavirus variants, such as the one first detected in India, were affecting more children, as the city-state prepares to shut most schools from this week and draws up plans to vaccinate youngsters.
All primary, secondary and junior colleges will shift to full home-based learning from Wednesday until the end of the school term on May 28.
A travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore due to open on May 26 has been postponed for a second time, officials said on Monday.
Thailand reports another COVID-19 record
Thailand reported a daily record of 9,635 new cases, nearly three-quarters of which were prisoners infected in jail clusters, as the Southeast Asian country struggles with a third wave of infections.
The combined cases bring its total infections to 111,082. Thailand also announced 25 new deaths on Monday, bringing its overall coronavirus fatalities to 614.
The COVID-19 taskforce said 10,748 inmates had been infected with the virus this month according to tests on 24,357 prisoners in eight jails.
Sanofi/GSK report positive vaccine results
An experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline showed a robust immune response in early-stage clinical trial results, enabling them to move to a late-stage study, the French drugmaker said.
Sanofi and Britain’s GSK said a global Phase III trial would start in the coming weeks and involve more than 35,000 adults, with the hope of seeing the vaccine approved by the fourth quarter after having initially targeted the first half of this year before a setback.
“The Phase 2 interim results showed 95% to 100% seroconversion following a second injection in all age groups (18 to 95 years old) and across all doses, with acceptable tolerability and no safety concerns,” Sanofi said.
(Reporting by Linda Noakes; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
