BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

- - - -

DUBLIN -- Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin announced Tuesday that the country has postponed its planned move into phase four of further lifting COVID-19 restrictions on Aug. 10, due to rising infections at home and abroad.

Martin made the announcement at a press briefing held here following a cabinet meeting chaired by him.

- - - -

WELLINGTON -- New Zealand reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, with the number of active cases in the country being 24, all in managed isolation and quarantine facilities, according to the Ministry of Health.

It has been 96 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source, according to the ministry.

- - - -

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Tuesday a Phase 2 clinical trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of potential new therapeutics for COVID-19, including an investigational therapeutic based on synthetic monoclonal antibodies to treat the disease.

Researchers sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the NIH, are working with clinical sites to identify potential patient volunteers currently infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, who have mild to moderate disease not requiring hospitalization, according to a release of NIH.

- - - -

BEIJING -- Chinese health authority said Wednesday that it received reports of 27 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Tuesday, including 22 locally-transmitted ones.

All locally-transmitted cases were reported in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

- - - -

HONG KONG -- A private survey showed Wednesday that the business activity contracted further in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as the worsening COVID-19 epidemic weighed on business confidence.

The Purchasing Managers' Index of Hong Kong compiled by consulting firm IHS Markit dropped to 44.5 last month from 49.6 in June.

- - - -

LOS ANGELES -- The Walt Disney Company on Tuesday reported significant quarterly loss in its fiscal third quarter due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Disney's overall revenues in the three-month period that ended June 27 fell 42 percent year-over-year to 11.78 billion U.S. dollars. Earnings per share for the quarter showed a loss of 2.61 dollars compared to income of 79 cents in the prior-year quarter, according to a release from the company.

- - - -

CANBERRA -- Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for Australians refusing to comply with mandatory face mask orders to "get real."

Morrison said on Wednesday morning that he was "disgusted" by an alleged assault of a police officer in Victoria by a woman who refused to wear a mask.

- - - -

SAO PAULO -- Brazil on Tuesday marked another grim milestone of the COVID-19 pandemic, registering more than 95,000 deaths from the disease after 1,154 patients died the previous day.

The total death toll reached 95,819, while the number of people infected rose to 2,801,921 after tests detected 51,603 new infections in the past 24 hours. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)