Rolling updates on the latest developments and headlines from around the world on the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Gina Lee and Peter Nurse
01:09 AM ET: UK retail sales dropped in April by most in at least 25 years
U.K. retail sales dropped in April by the most in at least a quarter of a century, according to industry figures that outline the impact of the shutdown on stores.
The British Retail Consortium said total sales fell 19.1% in April compared with a year earlier, the most since its monitor began in 1995. In a further sign of the damage done by the lockdown, a Barclaycard measure of consumer spending fell 36.5% last month.
00:59 AM ET: China’s air passenger numbers fell 68.5% in April, an improvement from March
China’s air passenger numbers fell 68.5% in April from a year ago, for a drop smaller than in March, the aviation regulator said on Wednesday, pointing to a fragile industry recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Air passengers numbered 16.72 million in April, Xiong Jie, a spokesman of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, told an online news conference. That compared with a decline of 71.7% on the year in March, when passengers numbered 15.13 million.
00:55 AM ET: Malaysia posts slowest growth through March since 2009
Malaysia’s economy unexpectedly expanded, growing 0.7% in the three months through March compared to a year earlier, but at its slowest pace since 2009, according to Malaysia’s central bank.
The economy contracted 2% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the previous three months, the central bank added.
00:51 AM ET: Chinese city of Jilin imposes fresh travel restrictions after new outbreak
The northeast Chinese city of Jilin is imposing fresh restrictions on travel in order to contain a new coronavirus outbreak, with six new cases reported on Tuesday.
Jilin has emerged as the source of a potential new wave of infections and the neighbouring city of Shulan was forced to adjust the risk level to “high” from “medium” at the weekend.
10:10 PM ET: Gilead opens remdesivir to generic drugmakers, NRC to work with CanSino on vaccine
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) licensed remdesivir, its potential Covid-19 treatment, to five generic drug manufacturers in India and Pakistan to speed supply chain development and help meet anticipated demand.
The five companies are Cipla Ltd., Ferozsons Laboratories, Hetero Labs Ltd., Jubilant Lifesciences, and Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL). They will now be able to produce the drug without paying royalties until either another treatment to prevent Covid-19 is developed or the World Health Organization declares an end to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Canada’ National Research Council said on Tuesday that it will work with China’s CanSino Biologics to advance bioprocessing and clinical development of a potential vaccine. The Ad5-nCoV vaccine candidate received Chinese regulatory approval earlier this year, and CanSino will move ahead with human clinical trials in China.
10:06 PM ET: South Korea suffers biggest month of job losses in two decades
South Korea reported its biggest month of job losses in more than two decades in April, with the number of jobs falling by 476,000 from the same month a year ago.
The drop continued a second month of rising unemployment as businesses such as hotels and restaurants slashed hiring, data from the statistics office said.
10:02 PM ET: Brazil and Mexico report record surge in deaths
Brazil is fast becoming a new virus hotspot as it recorded 881 deaths on Tuesday. Johns Hopkins University data said that the country had 177,602 confirmed cases and 12,404 deaths as of May 13.
Meanwhile, Mexico reported a record 353 more deaths and 1,997 confirmed cases on Tuesday.
According to Johns Hopkins University data, Mexico has 36,327 cases and 3,573 deaths as of May 13.