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(Reuters) – Among people infected by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, fully vaccinated people with “breakthrough” infections may be just as likely as unvaccinated people to spread the virus to others, new research suggested.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals here for a case tracker and summary of news
EUROPE
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he wanted to get the travel industry moving again with a simple user-friendly system to allow for trips abroad without importing new virus variants.
* England’s COVID-19 mobile phone app will be tweaked so that fewer contacts of asymptomatic people who test positive for the disease will need to self-isolate.
* Serbia is benefiting from “quarantine tourism” as thousands of Indians make a two-week stopover on the way to other countries.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Johnson & Johnson said it was still in talks with the Indian government over its vaccine after the country’s drug regulator announced the company had pulled its proposal seeking an accelerated approval for local trials.
* Thailand will increase the number of people required to isolate at home with COVID-19 to 100,000, as capacity in healthcare facilities dwindles.
* Indonesia aims to start gradually reopening its economy in September, a senior minister said.
* The Philippines will extend a night curfew in Manila amid a tightening of restrictions.
AMERICAS
* The United States will not lock down again to curb COVID-19 but “things are going to get worse” as the Delta variant fuels a surge in cases, mostly among the unvaccinated, top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
* Nearly three out of four Americans above the age of 18 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, according to the U.S. CDC.
* New York’s governor urged businesses to turn away unvaccinated customers, while Florida grappled with an influx of hospitalized patients.
* Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham announced that he has tested positive despite being vaccinated, has flu-like symptoms and will be self-quarantining for 10 days.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Morocco will lengthen its night curfew as it tightens restrictions to counter a surge in infections.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* As the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus drives an upsurge in infections, disease experts worldwide are scrambling to learn whether it makes people – mainly the unvaccinated – sicker than other variants.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* U.S. stocks reversed course on Monday to finish slightly lower, echoing a decline in oil and Treasury prices, as economic worries related to the Delta variant outweighed optimism about infrastructure spending and corporate earnings. [MKTS/GLOB]
* U.S. manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace in July for the second straight month.
* The pandemic reversed a steady decline in global current account imbalances in 2020 as massive deficit aid spending in advanced countries combined with wider trade gaps for medical supplies and plunging demand for oil and travel, the International Monetary Fund said.
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