(Reuters) – The world faces a shortage of oxygen concentrators as the number of global cases of the novel coronavirus nears the 10 million mark, the World Health Organization head said.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* More than 9.3 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 476,928 have died, a Reuters tally showed as of 1600 GMT on Wednesday.
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.
* For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.
* Eikon users, see MacroVitals (cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098) for a case tracker and a summary of developments.
EUROPE
* A second wave is a real risk for Britain and local flare-ups are likely, major health bodies said, in one of the strongest warnings yet to Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he eases the lockdown.
* The Dutch government announced a widespread easing of coronavirus lockdown measures that will allow outdoor gatherings, group restaurant visits and regular public transport services from July 1.
* Ukraine is opening more of its hospitals to coronavirus cases as the institutions initially chosen to accept patients no longer have enough beds to cope with a surge in infections, the health minister said.
AMERICAS
* The University of Washington forecast nearly 180,000 U.S. deaths from COVID-19 by Oct. 1 as cases showed new signs of surging.
* The Trump administration said it would no longer directly fund 13 of its original coronavirus testing sites in five states, saying states were allocated money for testing by the federal government last month.
* U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. was working with countries in Europe and elsewhere on how to reopen for travel safely.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia reported its first COVID-19 death in more than a month, as concerns about a second wave of infections saw thousands of people queue, sometimes for hours, to be tested.
* Indonesian authorities complained that hundreds of people had refused testing for the virus as social taboos emerge as another obstacle to stopping its spread.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Millions of women and children in poor countries are at risk because the pandemic is disrupting health services they rely on, a World Bank global health expert has warned.
* All African countries have now developed laboratory capacity to test for the coronavirus, the head of the World Health Organization said.
* Iran’s death toll has risen to nearly 10,000 with 133 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral remdesivir could be priced up to $5,080 per course based on benefits shown in COVID-19 patients, a U.S. drug pricing research group suggested.
* A Chinese military research institute has been approved to test its second experimental coronavirus vaccine in humans, the eighth candidate in clinical trials for China as it emerges as a front-runner in the global fight against COVID-19.
* Oxford University rolled out Africa’s first human trials for a potential vaccine against the new coronavirus in South Africa.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* The pandemic has caused wider and deeper damage to economic activity than first thought, the International Monetary Fund said, prompting the institution to slash its 2020 global output forecasts further.
* Portuguese banks are likely to suffer a significant impact from the coronavirus, the Bank of Portugal warned.
* The Philippine government is seeking a record 4.3 trillion peso budget for 2021 focused on reviving an economy expected this year to shrink for the first time in two decades, a top official said.
(Compiled by Devika Syamnath and Anita Kobylinska; Editing by Alex Richardson and Maju Samuel)
