Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Reuters
Updated ·2 min read
FILE PHOTO: A woman receives a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination, at Jordan Downs in Los Angeles

(Reuters) - Moderna Inc has spoken with the Chinese government about supplying COVID-19 vaccines, but no decision has been made, CEO Stephane Bancel said on Wednesday.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, click on COVID-19: MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of news. https://amers2.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1775942723

ASIA-PACIFIC

* New Zealand scrapped mask-wearing rules and vaccine mandates on Monday, bringing an end to some of the toughest COVID-19 pandemic rules in the world about two years after they were put in place.

* China reported 1,062 new COVID-19 infections on Sept. 13, of which 237 were symptomatic and 825 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.

EUROPE

* Sweden's government said it would donate 500,000 vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to Ukraine.

* A German court sentenced a 50-year-old man to life for murdering a petrol station worker who insisted he follow rules and wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID.

* The World Health Organisation expects a rise in COVID-19 in Ukraine to peak in October, possibly bringing hospitals close to their capacity threshold, WHO's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

AMERICAS

* Asking the world to prioritise saving lives in the world's poorest countries is increasingly challenging in a world still rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat of climate change, rising energy costs and the war in Ukraine, according to Bill Gates.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Atea Pharmaceuticals will advance global phase 3 registrational study of Bemnifosbuvir in high-risk non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

* The European Medical Agency's (EMA) CHMP approved a new manufacturing site for the active substance of vaccine Valneva.

* Novavax and Serum Institute of India announced full product registration in South Africa of Novavax COVID-19 vaccine.

* Moderna Inc believed from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that BioNTech SE used its intellectual property in producing a rival vaccine, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said on Wednesday.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian stocks tumbled on Wednesday as U.S. data dashed hopes for an immediate peak in inflation, although the dollar paused its relentless run against the yen as Japan gave its strongest signal yet it was unhappy with the currency's sharp declines. [MKTS/GLOB]

* Business confidence of Japanese manufacturers retreated in September from a seven-month high, while service firms' sentiment fell to a five-month low, as unyielding cost pressures hit the corporate sector, the Reuters Tankan poll showed.

* Lower fuel prices caused an unexpected fall in British consumer price inflation in August, official figures showed on Wednesday, offering some relief to households and the Bank of England after the CPI rate hit a 40-year high.

(Compiled by Rashmi Aich and Tristan Chabba; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)