COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 26 March

1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 125.5 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 2.75 million. More than 489 million vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

South Korea has said it will extend its COVID-19 distancing rules – including a ban on gatherings of five or more – after daily new cases hit a one-month high.

Australia is considering diverting COVID-19 vaccines from its own programme to Papua New Guinea, a government source has said.

Airfares in China are recovering to pre-pandemic levels, as domestic tourists lead a recovery in air travel.

Argentina will suspend flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico from tomorrow to prevent different strains of COVID-19 from entering the country.

Three additional French regions will be put under tightened COVID-19 restrictions for four weeks, following similar measures introduced in other regions a week ago, the government announced yesterday.

2. EU tells AstraZeneca no more exports until contracts are fulfilled

The European Union has told AstraZeneca that it cannot export any more COVID-19 vaccines from Europe until it makes good on its contracts with the bloc.

“We have to and want to explain to our European citizens that they get their fair share,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference late on Thursday, adding that companies had to honour their contracts with the EU before exporting to other regions. “And this is of course the case with AstraZeneca,” she said.

“I think it is clear for the company that, first of all the company has to catch up, has to honour the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines.”

Von der Leyen also said the EU is at the start of a third wave of COVID-19, but that the bloc is on course to have 70% of adults inoculated in the second quarter of the year.

3. World Bank: China set to lead recovery of East Asian and Pacific economies

New World Bank forecasts suggest China will lead the recovery of East Asian and Pacific economies in 2021. However, many nations will record sub-par growth as they struggle to emerge from the pandemic.

The bank’s East Asia and Pacific Economic Update predicts China’s economy will expand by 8.1% in 2021, compared with 2.3% the previous year, leading a 7.4% region-wide expansion, up from 1.2% in 2020.

Viet Nam is set to be the other standout performer, with an expected growth rate of 6.6%.

The World Bank said: “successful vaccination campaigns and early control of the pandemic, together with significant policy reform and the diffusion of new technologies,” could lead to better-than-expected growth.