Home

Coronavirus crisis: Latest on worldwide coronavirus spread

AAPAAP
NZ plans to accept vaccinated travellers next year while Canada is working on a vaccine passport.
Camera IconNZ plans to accept vaccinated travellers next year while Canada is working on a vaccine passport. Credit: AP

EUROPE

Turkey will start face-to-face education as scheduled, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday, and unvaccinated adults will have to be tested regularly against COVID-19.

French health authorities reported 30,920 new daily COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, a figure above the 30,000 threshold for the first time since April 28, when the country was about to exit its third lockdown.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

ASIA-PACIFIC

India recorded 41,195 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 32.08 million infections, data from the health ministry showed on Thursday.

New Zealand plans to allow quarantine-free entry to vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries from early 2022, as it looks to open its borders again after nearly 18 months of pandemic-induced isolation.

India is in talks to buy 50 million doses of Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE’s vaccine, the Wall Street Journal reported.

AMERICAS

California became the first US state to require that its teachers and other school staff be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19, a move Governor Gavin Newsom called “a responsible step” to ensure the safety of children.

The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorise a third booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna for people with weakened immune systems, NBC News reported.

Canada is working to create a digital vaccine passport that would allow citizens to travel abroad and it should be available in the next few months, government officials said.

Chile on Wednesday began administering booster shots to those already inoculated with Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine in a bid to lock in early success following one of the world’s fastest mass vaccination drives.

Hassan Rouhani and Ebrahim Raisi
Camera IconEbrahim Raisi (right) has taken over from Hassan Rouhani (left) as Iran's president. Credit: EPA

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Iran’s supreme leader said the pandemic was the country’s “number-one problem” and must urgently be curbed, and called for greater efforts to import and produce vaccines.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

No new cases of rare and severe blood clots following vaccination with AstraZeneca’s COVID shot have been reported in Britain in recent weeks after a decision to restrict its use in under-40s, British scientists said on Wednesday.

The World Health Organisation said a clinical trial in 52 countries would study three anti-inflammatory drugs as potential treatments for COVID-19 patients.

COVID BRISBANE
Camera IconA young man receives the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled Credit: News Corp Australia

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Asian shares failed to follow a strong close on Wall Street with fears about the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus weighing on sentiment even as tame US inflation eased fears the Federal Reserve would rush to reduce its economic support.

Thailand’s central bank will focus on creating conditions for expanding debt relief and credit for firms to boost the flagging economy, the bank’s chief said, adding that already low interest rates had become a blunt tool for many policymakers.

Japanese wholesale prices rose in July at their fastest annual pace in 13 years, data showed on Thursday, a sign the global commodity inflation and a weak yen were pushing up raw material import costs for a broad range of goods.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails