Healthcare workers in Britain and
Thailand have started taking part in a trial to determine
whether two anti-malarial drugs can prevent Covid-19, including
one that US President Donald Trump says he has been taking.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* More than 5.12 million people were reported to have been
infected globally and 332,328 have died, according to a Reuters
tally as of 0403 GMT on Friday.
EUROPE
* Britain said it had agreed to acquire over 10 million
coronavirus antibody tests from Roche and Abbott which would be
rolled out to health and care workers from next week.
* Britain is enduring its deepest recession in centuries but
the havoc wrought by the pandemic will not be enough to push the
Bank of England to adopt negative interest rates, a Reuters poll
found.
* British health secretary Matt Hancock said he was
confident that a Covid-19 track and trace system would be
operating by June 1, allowing lockdown rules to be eased without
risking a spike in infections.
AMERICAS
* The United States has secured almost a third of the first
1 billion doses planned for AstraZeneca's experimental Covid-19
vaccine by pledging up to $1.2 billion.
* Brazil suffered a record of 1,188 daily coronavirus deaths
on Thursday and is fast approaching Russia to become the world's
No. 2 Covid-19 hot spot behind the United States.
* The mounting pressure on Brazil's workforce from the
unfolding economic crisis was highlighted on Thursday as figures
showed a 76% surge in formal unemployment insurance claims.
* A quarter of Americans have little or no interest in
taking a coronavirus vaccine, a poll found, with some voicing
concern that the record pace at which vaccine candidates are
being developed could compromise safety.
Police officers ask people to not sit while patrolling at the beach in Barcelona, Spain. On Wednesday, Barcelona permitted people to walk on its beaches for the first time since the start of the coronavirus lockdown over two months ago. Sunbathing and recreational swimming are still not allowed. Picture: Emilio Morenatti/AP
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Japan's central bank created its own version of the US Federal Reserve's "Main Street" lending programme to channel
more money to small businesses.
* New Zealand is considering distributing free cash directly
to individuals as a way of policy stimulus to help boost the
economy, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.
* Ticket pricing restrictions, protective suits and goggles
for flight attendants and no food served on board planes are
among the rules proposed by India's civil aviation ministry as
it prepares to resume domestic flying within days.
* Japan's elderly workers, once key to Abenomics, are
suffering as the pandemic closes businesses, even as they are
more at risk from the disease than other age groups.
* Thousands of Indonesians made a late dash to leave Jakarta
for their hometowns this week, as the country reported its
biggest daily jump in cases, bringing the total confirmed number
to 20,162.
* Travel restrictions are causing labour shortages at
Malaysia's palm plantations, officials said.
Staff in protective suits talk to a woman as people sit spaced apart to practice social distancing while waiting for their turn to enter a community health centre, amid the coronavirus outbreak in Jakarta, Indonesia. Picture: Achmad Ibrahim/AP
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* South Africa could see up to 50 000 coronavirus deaths and
as many as 3 million infections by the end of the year,
scientific models showed on Thursday.
* Lebanon's Health Ministry reported 63 new cases, the
largest single-day increase since the outbreak of the pandemic.
* Crossings used by thousands of Cypriots daily between the
Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides of the divided island and sealed
shut by the coronavirus lockdown will gradually start reopening
from June 8.
A maid from the Philippines wears a mask to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus as she walks in front of a newspaper kiosk in central Beirut's commercial Hamra Street, in Beirut, Lebanon. Picture: Hassan Ammar/AP
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* Japan's core consumer prices fell for the first time in
more than three years in April on an annual basis, as weak oil
prices and lockdown measures heightened deflation risks.
* China dropped its annual growth target for the first time
and pledged more government spending, setting a sombre tone to
this year's meeting of parliament in Beijing.
* Fitch Ratings downgraded its outlook on Australia's
coveted 'AAA' rating to "negative" from "stable", citing the
heavy blow to the economy and public finances from the pandemic.
* British consumer confidence in early May dipped back down
to its joint-lowest level since the global financial crisis in
2009.
* Ireland could post a wider budget deficit this year than
its worst-case scenario of 10% of GDP, even if it fully succeeds
in reopening the economy, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told
Reuters.