30 October

Global: Global coronavirus infections have passed 45.1 million, meanwhile, the global coronavirus death toll is 1,182,368 according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

The death rate for Covid-19 is higher in high-income countries, which tend to have older populations, an Imperial College London research team found in a study. Wealthy countries had an estimated infection fatality rate of 1.15%, compared with 0.23% for low-income countries, the team found.

US: US Covid-19 infections are near 9 million, at 8,947,862. The US coronavirus death toll is 228,675 according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

The Covid-19 surge in the Midwest rose to a record high, led by new highs in Kansas, Iowa and South Dakota as the region’s outbreak spread toward both coasts. Iowa joins Wisconsin among Midwest states with bad outbreaks that could be pivotal on Election Day.

Americans have bought nearly 17m guns so far in 2020, more than in any other single year, according to estimates from a firearms analytics company. Gun sales across the United States first jumped in the spring, driven by fears about the coronavirus pandemic, and spiked even higher in the summer.

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A US federal judge ruled against landlord groups who were seeking to block the US Centers for Disease Control’s national moratorium on evictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. US District Judge J.P. Boulee in Atlanta on Thursday rejected a motion for a preliminary injunction, brought by a nonprofit called the New Civil Liberties Alliance, on behalf of a Virginia landlord.

The number of daily positive coronavirus cases in New York continues to rise, nearing the 2,500-mark on Thursday, despite Governor Andrew Cuomo’s crackdown and optimism.

Europe: The EU will finance the transfer of patients across borders within the bloc to prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed as Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations rise across the continent.

Australia: Officials said on Friday there just under 200 active cases of Covid-19 in the country, the lowest number in more than four months and well down from a peak of just over 8,000 in mid-August.

China: Mainland China reported 25 new Covid-19 cases on 29 October, down from 47 a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Friday. Of the new cases, 24 were imported infections originating from overseas.

Japan: The total number of Covid-19 cases in Japan has topped 100,000 as experts warned that Tokyo – the most-affected part of the country – should prepare for another wave of infections this winter. The Tokyo government is set to boost the daily coronavirus testing capacity to about 60,000 tests from current 10,200 as the flu season begins, NHK reported.

Sweden: Sweden registered 2,820 new coronavirus cases, the highest since the start of the pandemic and the third record number in a matter of days.

Sweden’s government has underestimated the cost of testing and tracing Covid-19 patients and the money that’s been earmarked for the purpose is now running out, TV4 reports. The government will allocate an extra 3 billion kronor ($336 million) to pay for testing through the end of the year, bringing the total cost for testing and infection tracing this year to almost 10 billion kronor, according to the report.

Italy: Italy registered a record of 26,831 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

Spain: Spain hit a new record in daily cases, recording another 23,580 infections. It brought the nation’s tally to 1,136,503, health ministry data showed.

India: India’s tally of coronavirus cases number 8.09 million, according to government data. Deaths rise to 121,090 as of 30 October.

Myanmar: Covid cases topped 50,000 doubling over the past three weeks as the country is seeing more than 1,000 new cases a day, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports.

Mexico: Mexico reported 5,948 new cases, bringing the total to 912,811 according to data released by the Health Ministry Thursday. Deaths rose 464 to 90,773.

South Korea: South Korea reported 114 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, down from 125 a day earlier, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Slovakia: Slovakia is aiming to test its entire population for Covid. The country of 5.5 million people is preparing to launch a two-stage process using cheap antibody tests to help stop the resurgence in new cases that’s sweeping across the continent.

Therapeutic news

Lonza and AstraZeneca agreed to manufacture a combination of two long-acting antibodies for Covid-19 treatment called AZD7442, according to an SGX filing.

Lockdown updates

New Zealand: The government has ordered Air New Zealand to freeze all international bookings to the country as quarantine facilities near capacity, as more citizens try to return home ahead of the Christmas holidays. From Tuesday, they will need to have a voucher in order to board a flight home.

France: France will restrict outdoor movement and make working from home mandatory under new lockdown rules, coming into effect at midnight. People will only be able to leave their own homes for certain essential purposes, as the country tries to put the brakes on a Covid-19 outbreak that the president Emmanuel Macron said risked accelerating out of control.

UK: West Yorkshire in England will move into tier 3 restrictions from 12.01 on Monday. The ‘very high’ restrictions – the strictest level in England – will see indoor social mixing banned and the closure of pubs and bars unless they can operate as a restaurant.

Greece: Greece will impose regional lockdowns on its second-largest city of Thessaloniki and two other regions from Friday after a rise in cases of Covid-19, the government said.

Italy: Under Italy’s new restrictions bars and restaurants must stop serving customers at 6pm while cinemas, theatres, swimming pools and gyms must close completely.