The World Health Organization on Thursday recommended the use of French drugmaker Valneva’s COVID-19 vaccine.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
AMERICAS
* Brazil’s federal police on Wednesday accused President Jair Bolsonaro of discouraging mask use during the pandemic and falsely suggesting that people who got vaccinated against COVID-19 ran the risk of contracting AIDS.
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday it will prioritize its public health response in a revamp of its structure after months of criticism over its handling of the COVID-19 and monkeypox pandemics.
EUROPE
* The Bank of England set out plans to auction off around 200 million pounds ($241 million) of corporate bonds a week starting next month, as it moves ahead with plans to unwind its huge stimulus push of recent years.
* The Swiss government is expected to run a budget deficit of 5 billion Swiss francs ($5.25 billion) for 2022, it said on Wednesday, citing extraordinary costs from tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting new arrivals from Ukraine.
* European soccer revenues grew by 10% in the 2020-21 season despite most an almost total lack of fans in stadiums, according to a report published on Thursday.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Mainland China reported 3,570 new coronavirus cases for Aug. 17, of which 682 were symptomatic and 2,888 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.
* Shanghai reported four new domestically transmitted asymptomatic coronavirus cases for Aug. 17, the same as a day earlier, while no local symptomatic cases were reported, the same as a day before, the city government said on Thursday.
* China’s July air passenger traffic rebounded to 57.3% of the 2019 level, the country’s aviation regulator said, as the airline industry slowly recovers from widespread COVID-19 lockdowns that paralysed travel demand.
AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
* The operator of Dubai International Airport said on Wednesday the Middle East hub could see monthly passenger traffic return to pre-pandemic levels in the latter half of next year.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Novavax’s Nuvaxovid vaccine was granted expanded provisional approval in New Zealand for adolescents aged 12 through 17.
* Arcturus Therapeutics said new clinical data on its ARCT-154 vaccine shows high, sustained geometric mean fold rises in neutralizing antibodies against all evaluated Omicron variants.
* Cue Health Inc said on Wednesday an independent study showed its molecular COVID-19 test is as accurate as a lab-based RT-PCR test.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* China and Hong Kong stocks closed lower, hit by increasingly grim growth prospects for the world’s second-largest economy, which was dented by COVID-19 outbreaks, a property crisis, a record heat wave and limited room for monetary easing.
* Estee Lauder Cos Inc forecast full-year sales and profit below estimates, due to a hit from COVID-19-related lockdowns in major market China.
* Tapestry forecast full-year earnings below estimates after reporting lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, as lockdowns in China hurt sales of its designer handbags and apparel in the country.
Source: Reuters
