FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Britain will scrap tough COVID-19 quarantine requirements for 47 destinations including South Africa and Thailand on Monday and make it easier for people to arrive from countries including India and Turkey in the latest relaxation of the rules. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://ift.tt/2Jmlecf for a case tracker and summary of news EUROPE

* Germany's vaccine advisory committee recommends a booster mRNA COVID-19 vaccination shot for people who were inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, it said on Thursday. * Spain's coronavirus incidence dropped below 50 cases per 100,000 people on Thursday, reaching the threshold considered "low risk" by the Health Ministry for the first time in over a year.

* Italy increased the maximum attendance capacity allowed at cultural and sporting venues on Thursday, continuing its progressive easing of COVID-19 curbs for those who can show documents of immunity from the disease. * Hungary has offered its help to neighbouring Romania in treating COVID-19 patients as the country grapples with record high new infections and a shortage of intensive care beds, the foreign ministry said.

* Russia reported 27,550 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the biggest one-day tally it has recorded this year, amid a wave of infections that has pushed officials to urge people to get vaccinated. AMERICAS

* U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Chicago on Thursday to meet with the United Airlines chief executive and local Democratic leaders, as he touts his decision to impose COVID-19 vaccine mandates on employees of large firms, the White House said. * Pfizer and BioNTech have asked U.S. regulators to approve emergency use of their vaccine for children aged five to 11, Pfizer said.

ASIA-PACIFIC * COVID-19 aid supplies have arrived in North Korea but are being held in quarantine in its seaport of Nampho, the World Health Organization said.

* Malaysia has struck a deal with U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co to buy 150,000 courses of its experimental antiviral pill, the health ministry said on Thursday, joining other Asian countries in a rush to secure supplies. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Moderna plans to invest up to $500 million to build a factory in Africa to make up to 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines each year, including its COVID-19 shot, as pressure grows on the pharmaceutical industry to manufacture drugs on the continent. * Countries in the Middle East and North Africa are struggling to recover from the coronavirus crisis as underfunded public health systems exacerbate economic woes, the World Bank said.

* Nigeria's president unveiled a record 16.39 trillion naira ($39.99 billion) budget for 2022, with a projected 25% year-on-year rise in government spending as the economy struggles with the impact of the pandemic. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* French healthcare company Sanofi said it had found positive results from the first study into a high-dose influenza vaccine with a COVID-19 mRNA booster. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Tourism revenues in China during the Golden Week holiday that ends on Thursday fell by almost 5% year-on-year, state media reported, while lingering coronavirus curbs also saw a decline in the total number of trips undertaken. * Governments should start planning a return to more sustainable budgets with policies that win the trust of investors, after unprecedented fiscal stimulus to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.

* U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for $8 billion to equitably vaccinate 40% of people in all countries by the end of the year as the WHO launched a plan aiming to inoculate 70% of the world by mid-2022. (Compiled by Juliette Portala and Shailesh Kuber; Edited by Giles Elgood and Shounak Dasgupta)

FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus
Source: Viral Trending Buzz