Australia's Victoria reports lowest rise in COVID-19 cases in a month
Reuters
Published Aug 17, 2020 08:28PM ET
By Renju Jose
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's second most populous state of Victoria reported its lowest daily rise in new coronavirus cases in a month on Tuesday, stoking hopes that a second wave of infection in the state is easing.
The state recorded 17 deaths from the new coronavirus in the last 24 hours, a day after recording its deadliest day of the pandemic with 25 casualties. It reported 222 cases compared with 282 on Monday.
Australia's biggest biotech company CSL (OTC:CSLLY) Ltd, meanwhile, said it was in talks with AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) to determine if the potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the British drugmaker could be manufactured locally.
"We are assessing the viability of options ranging from the fill and finish of bulk product imported to Australia through to manufacture of the vaccine candidate under licence," a company spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.
The government on Sunday said it was close to striking a deal that would permit the production of a vaccine in Australia, likely in 2021.
A cluster of infections in Melbourne, the Victorian capital, forced authorities two weeks ago to impose a night curfew, tighten restrictions on people's daily movements and order large parts of the state's economy to close.
The strict restrictions appear to have put new daily case numbers on a downward path after they peaked at more than 700 earlier this month.
Despite the second wave of infections, Australia has reported just over 23,500 COVID-19 cases and 438 deaths, far fewer than many other developed nations.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.