- SA has set the date for local government elections as November 1.
- Germany will expand emergency assistance to companies.
- In Switzerland, people need to show Covid-19 identification to enter bars and restaurants.
Japan will extend emergency restrictions in Tokyo and other areas until the end of this month, and media reports have reported that residents of Sydney, Australia who have been fully vaccinated may lift their stay-at-home orders by the end of October.
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Middle East and Africa
* South Africa has set the date for municipal elections on November 1st, after the court last week rejected a request to postpone the election to the beginning of next year to allow more time to vaccinate against Covid-19.
Europe
* The German Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy stated that Germany will extend Covid-19 emergency assistance to companies in trouble for three months until the end of this year.
* Starting from Monday, people need to show proof of Covid status to enter Swiss bars, restaurants and fitness centers.
* Approximately 2,000 Bulgarian restaurant and club owners, waiters, bartenders and fitness coaches protested the new restrictions in the center of the capital Sofia on Wednesday.
Asia Pacific
* After months of strict lockdown, Sydney’s cafes, restaurants and bars will reopen in the second half of October.
* Approximately a quarter of the 1 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine purchased from Spain will arrive in New Zealand this week.
* Due to the pandemic, the Asian Youth Games, originally scheduled for November in Shantou, Guangdong Province, southern China, has been postponed to December 2022.
America
* On Wednesday, dozens of Honduran immigrants were vaccinated in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula.
* The Pan American Health Organization stated that when distributing Covid-19 vaccines, American countries should give priority to pregnant and lactating women.
Medical development
* The US Food and Drug Administration rejected Humanigen’s request for emergency use authorization of its lenzilumab drug to treat newly hospitalized Covid-19 patients.
* The Brazilian Federal Health Regulatory Agency stated that documents provided by the São Paulo Biomedical Center prove that the safety of more than 12 million doses of Coronavac vaccine is not sufficient to ensure its safety.
* Novavax has initiated an early study to test its influenza and Covid-19 combination vaccine.
Economic impact
* Asian stock markets fell on Thursday, while the U.S. dollar strengthened, which is consistent with cautious global sentiment, as investors worry about slowing global economic growth and the central bank may curtail stimulus measures.
* Despite Beijing’s attempts to cool down raw material prices, driven by soaring raw material prices, China’s factory door inflation rate in August hit a 13-year high.
* Several Fed policymakers have stated that the Fed is still expected to reduce its large-scale asset purchases this year.
* A recruitment agency stated that British employers are facing the worst job applicant shortage in history due to the post-blockade economy and the surge in Brexit.
* Taiwan plans to issue “stimulus coupons” again to increase consumer spending by NT$200 billion (US$7.22 billion) and support its coronavirus-hit economy.
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