FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus
* Eikon users, see MacroVitals (cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098) for a case tracker and a summary of developments. EUROPE * A second wave is a real risk for Britain and local flare-ups are likely, major health bodies said on Wednesday, in one of the strongest warnings yet to Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he eases lockdown to help the economy. * Britain's transport minister said he would say more on June 29 about possible air bridges with other countries to enable travel, adding that conversations were ongoing.
Latin America's death toll has surpassed 100,000, according to a Reuters tally, with few signs of the outbreak easing in a region marked by crowded cities and high poverty levels. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* More than 9.3 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 477,155 have died, a Reuters tally showed as of 1435 GMT on Wednesday. * For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.
* For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser. * Eikon users, see MacroVitals (cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098) for a case tracker and a summary of developments.
EUROPE * A second wave is a real risk for Britain and local flare-ups are likely, major health bodies said on Wednesday, in one of the strongest warnings yet to Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he eases lockdown to help the economy.
* Britain's transport minister said he would say more on June 29 about possible air bridges with other countries to enable travel, adding that conversations were ongoing. * Switzerland's government will pay for coronavirus testing, it said on Wednesday, as it approved the launch of its proximity tracing app from Thursday to prevent a resurgence of the virus as restrictions are relaxed.
* Bulgaria will extend a state of emergency declared in response to the virus outbreak until July 15 after another jump in new registered cases, health minister said on Wednesday. * Ukraine is opening more of its hospitals to coronavirus cases as the institutions initially chosen to accept patients no longer have enough beds to cope with a surge in infections, the health minister said on Wednesday.
AMERICAS * The New York City Marathon originally scheduled to be held on Nov. 1 has been cancelled because of the pandemic, race organisers said.
* Honduras's president needed oxygen after being hospitalised with the coronavirus last week, a military doctor said, warning that the leader remained in a "delicate" situation and would need to stay in hospital. ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia reported its first COVID-19 death in more than a month, as concerns about a second wave of infections saw thousands of people queue, sometimes for hours, to be tested. * The daily number of new cases in Tokyo climbed to 55, Governor Yuriko Koike said, the highest tally in 1-1/2 months after a cluster of infections was found at an unnamed office in the Japanese capital.
* Indonesian authorities complained on Wednesday that hundreds of people had refused testing for the virus as social taboos emerge as another obstacle to stopping its spread in the world’s fourth-most populous nation. * The pilots of a Pakistan airliner that crashed last month, killing 97, were distracted and preoccupied as they talked about the coronavirus pandemic while preparing for an initial failed landing bid, the country's aviation minister said.
* Emirates, one of the world's biggest long-haul airlines, has suspended flights from Pakistan after passengers tested positive for coronavirus in Hong Kong. * Kazakhstan has locked down two towns near its capital Nur-Sultan to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the surrounding province, the authorities said.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Millions of women and children in poor countries are at risk because the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting health services they rely on, from neonatal and maternity care to immunisations and contraception, a World Bank global health expert has warned.
* All African countries have now developed laboratory capacity to test for the coronavirus, the head of the World Health Organization said. * Egypt will from Saturday lift a night-time curfew that had been imposed since March 25, the prime minister's media adviser said.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * British drugmaker AstraZeneca has signed its 10th supply-and-manufacturing deal for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine with Symbiosis Pharmaceutical for use in clinical trials, the Scottish private firm said.
* Brazil is likely to sign a contract this week to produce a trial vaccine developed by Oxford University, the country's interim health minister Eduardo Pazuello said. ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* Rising concerns about the pandemic accelerating sent global equities lower on Wednesday and pushed investors into perceived safe havens such as the dollar and gold, which hovered near its highest level in eight years. * Oil prices fell on Wednesday, reversing the previous session's surge as worries about a second wave of the pandemic outweighed support from a gradual reopening of global economies.
* The Bank of Japan offered 8.28 trillion yen ($77.74 billion) in loans to financial institutions under a new lending programme aimed at channelling funds to cash-strapped firms hit by the pandemic. * Portuguese banks are likely to suffer a significant impact from the coronavirus, the Bank of Portugal warned, expecting pressures from higher public debt and a weaker real estate market on the banking sector.
* The Czech government has spent 56.7 billion crowns ($2.4 billion) so far on direct aid to companies and individuals, its finance minister said. The amount equals 1% of the country's 2019 gross domestic product. * The Philippine government is seeking a record 4.3 trillion peso ($85.89 billion) budget for 2021 focused on reviving a coronavirus-hit economy expected this year to shrink for the first time in two decades, a top official said.
(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska and Anna Rzhevkina; Editing by Gareth Jones and Alex Richardson)
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