(Reuters) – India became the third country in the world to record more than one million coronavirus cases, while the list of U.S. states requiring face coverings in public grew as the country reported at least 70,000 new cases, a record daily jump for the seventh time this month.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* 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
* Britain has not achieved a good outcome in dealing with the pandemic, the government’s chief scientific adviser said.
* Spain reported the steepest daily jump in infections in over two months, with 580 new cases registered as of the previous day.
* Hackers backed by Russia are trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine and treatment research from academic and pharmaceutical institutions around the world, Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre said.
AMERICAS
* Restrictions on non-essential travel at U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico will be extended through Aug. 21, Canada and the U.S. announced.
* Lockdown measures in Brazil led to the temporary or permanent closure of 522,700 firms in the first two weeks of June, while the number of cases is set to cross 2 million.
* Doctors in Bogota are calling for a return to a strict city-wide quarantine to slow infections in Colombia’s capital, warning that medical services are close to collapsing, a leading medic said.
* Bars and restaurants in New York City that receive three “strikes” for failing to enforce social distancing will be forced to close, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
* Foreign students coming from Europe are exempt from a travel ban the U.S. imposed because of the pandemic, the U.S. State Department told congressional offices.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia’s Victoria state reported a record daily increase in cases while neighbouring New South Wales said it was banning dancing, singing and mingling at weddings as authorities struggle to contain a new wave of infections.
* Japan’s government faced potentially damaging blowback after barring Tokyo residents from claiming a travel subsidy aimed at reviving the domestic tourism industry.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Coronavirus support to poor countries has been “grossly inadequate and that’s dangerously shortsighted,” U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock said as he asked wealthy countries for billions more dollars to help 63 states, mainly in Africa and Latin America.
* Hospitals in Iran face acute shortages of medical personnel and beds as the country tackles a powerful second wave of infections.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Johnson & Johnson is in talks with Japan and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation about locking up allocations of its potential COVID-19 vaccine as it prepares to kick off human trials.
* Hydroxychloroquine was ineffective for patients with a mild version of COVID-19 in a study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota.
* Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm has begun Phase III clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine in Abu Dhabi using up to 15,000 volunteers.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* A growth spurt in the balance sheets of the world’s biggest central banks has crested in recent weeks, drawing warnings from investors that any signs of backpedaling on stimulus will jolt financial markets and strangle economic recovery.
* The pandemic is accelerating the remaking of Thailand’s automotive industry, the backbone of Southeast Asia’s auto sector, as factory shutdowns compound a shift toward electric vehicles.
(Compiled by Devika Syamnath and Ramakrishnan M; Edited by Arun Koyyur and Subhranshu Sahu)
