More than 38.25 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,087,361 have died, according to a Reuters
Meanwhile, under siege over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Donald Trump cited what he said was his son’s mild bout of the virus as a reason why American schools should reopen as soon as possible.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
EUROPE
* France imposed curfews while other European nations are closing schools, cancelling surgeries and enlisting student medics as overwhelmed authorities face the nightmare scenario of a COVID-19 resurgence at the onset of winter.
* Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia reported record figures of daily infections.
AMERICAS
* Two weeks after the coronavirus spread through the White House, staffers have begun trickling back to the West Wing, saying they only had mild symptoms and again spurning the use of masks.
* An extra 10,000 children per month may die this year from malnutrition due to the COVID-19 crisis, the head of the World Health Organisation warned.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia’s Victoria state said on Thursday it had just six new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, its lowest one-day figure in eight days, and no deaths.
* The Chinese city of Qingdao suspended its health commission head and sacked a hospital director following an outbreak of infections that ended China’s run of about two months without reporting a local case.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan urged the parliament to act to curb the influence of medical associations and other institutions that have criticised the government’s response to the pandemic.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Russia has granted regulatory approval to a second COVID-19 vaccine, according to its register of authorised medicines.
* Rapid antigen diagnostic tests for the coronavirus will be a game changer in the fight against the pandemic, the Pan American Health Organization’s director Carissa Etienne said.
* Eli Lilly & Co said other trials of its experimental coronavirus antibody therapy remain on track after a government-run study testing the treatment in hospitalized COVID-19 patients was paused due to safety concerns.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi were “far apart” on another economic relief package, and that a deal would be hard to reach before the Nov. 3 election, but he would keep trying.
* In reporting third-quarter results, CEOs and finance chiefs at the five biggest U.S. lenders gave a muddled picture of what to expect.
* China’s factory gate prices fell at a faster-than-expected pace in September and consumer inflation slowed to its weakest in 19 months, underscoring the challenges still facing the country as it recovers from the pandemic.
* Financial leaders from the Group of 20 major economies vowed to “do whatever it takes” to support the global economy and financial stability.
(Reuters)
