FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* Ontario will extend its stay-at-home order for an additional two weeks to June 2. ASIA-PACIFIC * The number of recorded COVID-19 infections in India climbed above 24 million on Friday amid reports that the highly transmissible coronavirus mutant first detected in the country was spreading across the globe. * Japan will declare a state of emergency in three more prefectures hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, in a surprise move reflecting growing concerns about the virus's spread.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday advised that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors and can avoid wearing them indoors in most places. The updated guidance, the agency said, will allow life to begin to return to normal. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of the news. EUROPE

* More than two-thirds of Spain's 47 million people will have been vaccinated by mid-August, its prime minister said. * Britain is anxious about the spread of the novel coronavirus variant first detected in India and rules out nothing when it comes to re-introducing local restrictions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

AMERICAS * The four most worrying coronavirus variants have been detected in virtually all countries and territories of the Americas, but although they are more transmissible there is no evidence they are more lethal, a World Health Organization expert said.

* U.S. schools are unlikely to require COVID-19 shots for students anytime soon given public hesitation and political hurdles. * Ontario will extend its stay-at-home order for an additional two weeks to June 2.

ASIA-PACIFIC * The number of recorded COVID-19 infections in India climbed above 24 million on Friday amid reports that the highly transmissible coronavirus mutant first detected in the country was spreading across the globe.

* Japan will declare a state of emergency in three more prefectures hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, in a surprise move reflecting growing concerns about the virus's spread. * Japan's government is not considering crafting a supplementary budget to respond to the coronavirus pandemic immediately given there's still money left to tap in the emergency budget reserve, Finance Minister Taro Aso said.

* Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang said that there was no need to raise the island's COVID-19 alert level for the time being and that compared with last year it has more experience and resources to fight the pandemic. * The first repatriation flight for Australians from India will arrive home on Saturday with up to 150 citizens and permanent residents heading for two weeks of quarantine in an old mining camp in the remote Northern Territory.

* Singapore announced the strictest curbs on social gatherings and public activities since easing a COVID-19 lockdown last year, amid a rise in locally acquired infections and with new coronavirus clusters forming in recent weeks. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* A South African report into excess deaths over the past year suggests more than 133,000 people in the country have died from COVID-19, far more than the official tally. * Egypt received a batch of more than 1.7 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine through COVAX.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine generates antibody responses 3-1/2 times larger in older people when a second dose is delayed to 12 weeks after the first, a British study said.

* A second-generation vaccine developed by CureVac and GlaxoSmithKline, designed to protect against coronavirus variants, produced a high level of immune response in a trial in rats, the companies said. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Japanese shares led a rebound in Asian markets on Friday, building on the lead from investors on Wall Street snapping up stocks that would benefit most from an economic revival. * Japan's economy is set to grow much slower than previously hoped this quarter, hobbled by extended emergency measures put in place to halt a rise in coronavirus infections, a Reuters poll showed.

 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)