Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

THE Joe Biden administration is examining ways to ensure that a waiver of COVID-19 vaccine patents to aid poor countries will not hand sensitive U.S. biopharmaceutical technology to China and Russia, responding to a chorus of concerns, U.S. and industry officials say.



DEATHS AND INFECTIONS


EUROPE

* Pope Francis supported waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, backing a proposal by U.S. President Joe Biden that has been rebuffed by some European nations.

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was opposed to waiving patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines as this could jeopardise the quality of shots against the disease.

* The European Union has not made any new orders for AstraZeneca vaccines beyond June when their contract ends, European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said, after the EU signed a deal with Pfizer-BioNTech.

* Delicate negotiations are going on between the British government, European soccer's governing body UEFA and others about where the Champions League final should be played, senior British minister Michael Gove said on Sunday.

* Exhilarated Spaniards chanting "freedom" danced in streets and partied on beaches as a COVID-19 curfew ended in most of the country, but others feared it was too soon to let go.


AMERICAS

* U.S. has long way to go to recover from the pandemic and many Americans are still struggling to return to work and last week's lower-than-expected jobs numbers were a reflection of that, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday.


ASIA-PACIFIC

* Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday that he has never "put the Olympics first", the same day an opinion poll showed nearly 60% of people in Japan want the Olympics cancelled less than three months before they begin.

* Calls grew for India to impose a nationwide lockdown as new coronavirus cases and deaths held close to record highs on Monday, increasing pressure on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

* India will recruit hundreds of former army medics to support its overwhelmed healthcare system, the defence ministry said on Sunday, as the country grapples with record COVID-19 infections and deaths amid calls for a complete nationwide lockdown.

* Australia's most populous state recorded no new COVID-19 infections for a third straight day on Sunday but extended raised social distancing and mask-wearing rules by a week as the authorities hunted for the source of a small outbreak.

* Laos recorded its first death from coronavirus on Sunday, losing its place among the few countries yet to suffer a fatality, state media said.


MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* South Africa's health ministry said it had detected the first four cases of a new coronavirus variant that emerged in India and was responsible for a surge of infections and deaths in the Asian country.


MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Europe's medicines regulator is reviewing reports of a rare nerve-degenerating disorder in people who received AstraZeneca's shots, raising fresh questions about potential side effects of the vaccine.


ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Stocks rose amid speculation that interest rates will remain low due to receding inflationary pressure, while oil and gas prices jumped after a cyber attack on a U.S. pipeline operator unnerved markets.

* Japan's economy likely shrank in the first quarter as the hit to consumption from coronavirus curbs offset the boost from robust global demand, a Reuters poll showed, highlighting the country's slow recovery from a pandemic-induced slump.