Vaccine possible by year-end, deaths top 900,000: Virus Update

Vaccine possible by year-end, deaths top 900,000: Virus Update

A test tube labelled with the Vaccine is seen in front of AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken on Wednesday. (Reuters photo)
A test tube labelled with the Vaccine is seen in front of AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken on Wednesday. (Reuters photo)

AstraZeneca Plc CEO Pascal Soriot said the coronavirus vaccine the company is developing with the University of Oxford could still be ready before the end of the year. Global deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic exceeded 900,000.

Lloyd’s of London, the world’s largest insurance market, said it expects to pay out as much as £5 billion ($6.5 billion) in claims related to coronavirus. Germany added four more French regions and two in Switzerland to its list of coronavirus risk areas.

In Asia, China’s vaccine frontrunner said none of the recipients of its two shots has reported an obvious adverse reaction or infection. It is pressing ahead with testing after AstraZeneca suspended its trial. Tokyo is lowering its virus alert to one notch below the highest level.

Interviews from a new book revealed US President Donald Trump deliberately minimised the danger of the coronavirus, a move he defended as intended to limit panic.

Astra still aiming for vaccine by end of year

AstraZeneca’s Soriot said the vaccine the company is developing could still be ready before the end of the year. Speaking at an online conference Thursday, Soriot sought to reassure investors after the company and its partner confirmed earlier this week that they had temporarily stopped giving patients the experimental shot.

The trial was halted after a participant in the UK got sick, triggering a review of safety data. It’s still not clear whether the patient has a condition called transverse myelitis, a suspected diagnosis, Soriot said.


India vaccine maker keeps testing Astra shot

The Indian company enlisted to manufacture a billion doses of AstraZeneca’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine is pushing ahead with its own clinical trial even while testing is halted.

The Serum Institute of India said it received a notice from the Drug Controller General of India seeking information on the illness of a person participating in AstraZeneca’s trials in Britain. The regulator asked Serum to demonstrate why its clinical trial license should not be suspended until the safety of the vaccine is established, according to a report from the Press Trust of India.


Indonesia to boost capacity of facilities

Indonesia’s government will increase the capacity of hospitals and health facilities after an increase in Covid-19 cases, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto told a press briefing on Thursday. The plan includes using rooms in an athlete’s village in Jakarta and low-star hotels for self-isolation facilities.


Germany declares French, Swiss regions as risk areas

Germany added four more French regions and two in Switzerland to its list of coronavirus risk areas. The French regions of Occitanie, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Corsica are now included, joining Ile-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, the country’s public health institute said on its website.

The institute also added the Swiss regions of Geneva and Waadt, as well as the the Czech capital Prague and additional areas of Croatia and Romania. The German government advises against travel to areas considered a risk.


Lloyd’s claims could reach $6.5bn

The coronavirus bill for insurers continues to mount with Lloyd’s of London saying it expects to pay out up to £5 billion ($6.5 billion) in claims.

The world’s largest insurance market announced a pre-tax loss of £400 million for the first half after reinsurance provisions helped cover some £2.4 billion of losses from Covid claims. The firm posted a £2.3-billion profit for the same period last year.


France 'must avoid lockdowns'

France must “do everything” to avoid lockdowns even though some local ones can’t be ruled out, the head of the country’s scientific council said in an interview on RTL radio.

The French are showing “too much laxism” in the face of the pandemic, said Jean-Francois Delfraissy, who heads a council that advises the government. He said he doesn’t see a vaccine against Covid-19 before the first quarter.


Tokyo lowers virus alert

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s expert panel on the coronavirus said it was lowering the virus alert in the city one notch from what had been the highest level. Infections have been falling in Tokyo from peaks reached about a month ago.

The city is also planning to end some of its restrictions on operating hours for bars and restaurants, allowing them to stay open longer, the Asahi newspaper reported.


Manhattan listings, Tokyo vacancies rise

Manhattan apartment rental listings jumped to a record 15,025 at the end of August, more than double the inventory from a year earlier, according to a report Thursday by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The borough’s vacancy rate reached a new high of 5.1%. Last August, it was under 2%.

In Tokyo, office vacancy rates rose for six months in a row, as the pandemic pushed some tenants to reduce space. The latest vacancy rate reading was 3.07%, the highest since Jan. 2018, according to data released by Miki Shoji Co.


Singapore dorm Infections linger

Singapore says that the new infection clusters emerging among more than 300,000 workers living in dormitories are due to many of them not being exposed to the virus yet.

The new cases in these accommodations that were previously declared clear of the virus were also not picked up by earlier tests as the virus was incubating, and had not yet reached the concentration that could be detected, according to Second Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng.


Indonesian stocks fall on restrictions

Indonesia’s benchmark stock index fell 5% after its capital brought back social distancing measures amid a continued rise in the number of coronavirus cases.

Jakarta is bringing back restrictions on offices and restaurants, with employees of non-essential industries required to work from home and limit the use of public transportation starting Sept 14. Entertainment sites and places of worship will be shut.


China vaccine frontrunner says shots safe

China National Biotec Group Co said none of the recipients of its two coronavirus shots has reported an obvious adverse reaction or infection, as the Chinese vaccine front-runner presses ahead with testing after AstraZeneca paused its trial.

Hundreds of thousands of people have received the Covid-19 shots so far, said the vaccine developer, a subsidiary of state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm Group Co. The vaccine is being administered under an emergency-use program that allows experimental shots to be used for frontline workers before they complete final testing.


British public told to socialise less

Boris Johnson told the British public to limit social contact as much as possible as coronavirus infection rates rise across the country, threatening its fragile economic recovery.

The prime minister confirmed plans to ban gatherings of more than six people in England, and urged compliance to slow the spread of the disease and avoid a repeat of earlier restrictions which shuttered businesses, closed schools and plunged the UK into recession into its deepest recession in at least a century.


US cases rise 0.2%

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 0.2% as compared with the same time Tuesday to 6.33 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The increase was lower than the average daily gain of 0.6% over the past week. Deaths rose by 0.3% to 189,972.

Florida reported 652,148 cases, up 0.3% from a day earlier, compared with an average increase of 0.4% in the previous seven days. The state posted 200 new Covid-19 deaths, the largest single-day increase in the three weeks, bringing the total to 12,115.

California reported 1,616 new virus infections, the lowest daily total since May 19, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Arizona reported 496 new virus cases, a day after recording just 81, which was the lowest daily tally since March. The 0.2% increase on Wednesday, to 206,541, was just below the prior seven-day average of 0.3%.

Texas’s new cases increased by 4,285 to bring the cumulative total to 645,791. Houston extended its ban on parades, festivals, 5K runs and similar group events through the end of the year but will permit football tailgating parties and symphony concerts, albeit with limited capacity, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (20)