Factbox-Latest on Worldwide Spread of the Coronavirus

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (Reuters) U.S. Congress progressed toward approving a long-awaited financial relief package and the country expanded its COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, even as a storm threatened to slow the progress in the East Coast.

EUROPE

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people should exercise extreme caution but he refused to outlaw festive family gatherings as cases soared across swathes of Britain.

* Germany will roll out the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 27, with priority given to the elderly in care homes.

* The number of infections in the Netherlands jumped by more than 11,000 in 24 hours, hitting a new record.

AMERICAS

* The United States widened its network for administering COVID-19 vaccines to doctors and nurses on the frontlines of the pandemic.

* President-elect Joe Biden will get the coronavirus vaccine as soon as next week, transition officials said.

* U.S. congressional negotiators were haggling over details of a $900 billion COVID-19 aid bill that is expected to include $600-$700 stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits.

* The Inter-American Development Bank said it would mobilize $1 billion to help countries in Latin America and the Caribbean acquire and distribute COVID-19 vaccines, adding to some $1.2 billion already committed in 2020.

* Brazil registered over 70,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, a daily record, bringing the country’s total caseload above 7 million.

* A quarter of Mexico’s population, or 31 million people, has been exposed to COVID-19, according to preliminary results of an official survey, with 70% never showing symptoms.

* U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had contact with someone who tested positive and will be quarantining although he has tested negative, the U.S. State Department said.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Beijing will welcome an international team of COVID-19 investigators due to travel to China in January, said the World Health Organization, which is leading the mission.

* The Japanese capital of Tokyo said the strain on its medical system from the COVID-19 pandemic was severe, raising its alert level to the highest of four stages as hospital beds filled up with rising infections.

* Australia scrambled to trace the source of new COVID-19 cases after a small cluster was detected in the largest city of Sydney, with authorities urging residents to get tested if they had any flu-like symptoms.

* South Korea reported a record number of coronavirus deaths on Thursday.

* New Zealand’s economy grew a record 14% in the third quarter, bouncing back from a COVID-19 lockdown earlier in the year that shut businesses and brought activity to a standstill.

* Australia’s economy will recover from its first recession in three decades faster than previously anticipated after containing the spread of COVID-19, the government has projected.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Saudi Arabia received its first shipment of vaccines and will begin distributing the shots in the next three days.

* Nigeria expects to receive its first doses of a vaccine in January.

* Lebanon is expected to sign a deal this week for supplies of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine and is set to receive the first batch eight weeks after that.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* An Indian government-backed vaccine showed it was safe and triggered immune responses during an ongoing early-stage trial, the company involved in the study said.

* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said extra doses from vials of Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine can be used after reports of vaccine doses being thrown away by pharmacists due to labeling confusion.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian stocks perched near record heights, the dollar languished at two-year lows and oil prices stood at their strongest since March, as monetary support and the hope of U.S. fiscal stimulus put traders in a festive mood. [MKTS/GLOB]

* South Korea cut its 2021 growth forecast and vowed to continue to support workers and exporters as a resurgence of the coronavirus has delayed its recovery and forced the government to keep its fiscal taps wide open.

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