Latest on the worldwide spread of the Coronavirus

AZ’s Covid 19 drug

AstraZeneca's experimental COVID-19 drug has helped cut the risk of severe disease or death in a late-stage study, the British drugmaker said, a boost to its efforts to develop coronavirus medicines beyond vaccines.  

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

• Merck & Co said on Monday it has applied for U.S. emergency use authorisation for its oral drug to treat mild-to-moderate patients of COVID-19, setting it on course to become the first oral antiviral medication for the disease. 
• Japan's Chugai Pharmaceutical said it has applied to regulators to expand the use of an antibody treatment for COVID-19 to also allow for preventative care. 

EUROPE

Russia will suspend test-firing rocket engines at one of its design bureaus in the city of Voronezh until the end of the month to conserve oxygen supplies for COVID-19 patients, a top space official said on Sunday. The country reported on Monday 957 coronavirus-related deaths, close to the all-time high of 968 reported two days earlier. 

Singapore is opening its borders to more countries for quarantine-free travel as the city-state seeks to rebuild its status as an international aviation hub, and prepares to reach a “new normal” to live with COVID-19. 

AMERICA

Canada's health and long-term care industries are bracing for staff shortages and layoffs, as deadlines for vaccine mandates loom across the country. 

Venezuela on Sunday received a second batch of 2.5 million doses of vaccines via the COVAX mechanism, while the government said it hoped to reach immunity for 70% of Venezuelans by the end of the month. 

ASIA-PACIFIC

Sydney's cafes, gyms and restaurants welcomed back fully vaccinated customers after nearly four months of lockdown, as Australia aims to begin living with the virus and gradually reopen with high rates of inoculation. 
New Zealand will require teachers and workers in the health and disability sectors to be fully vaccinated, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as she extended restrictions in Auckland for another week. 

Singapore is opening its borders to more countries for quarantine-free travel as the city-state seeks to rebuild its status as an international aviation hub, and prepares to reach a “new normal” to live with COVID-19. 

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA 

Egypt's public prosecution said on Sunday it had ordered the arrest of three people after thousands of unused COVID-19 vaccines were found dumped along a water channel. 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

World shares edged higher courtesy of gains in China, while rising Treasury yields lifted the dollar to a near three-year peak against the Japanese yen.

 
It took about 20 months to get there but here we are: European banks are back to the levels they were trading at prior to the global pandemic market crash. 

Philippine shares soared nearly 4% as easing restrictions boosted real estate and consumer firms, while stocks in Malaysia and India added about half a percent each. 

(Compiled by Juliette Portala and Amy Caren Daniel; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Hugh Lawson)

REUTERS