(Reuters) – China’s new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases spiked to a near three-month high and tighter curbs to contain the spread are expected in Beijing ahead of a key gathering of the highest-ranking members of the Communist Party.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals here for a case tracker and summary of news

EUROPE

* Several Russian regions said they could impose additional restrictions or extend a workplace shutdown to fight a surge in COVID-19 cases that has already prompted Moscow to re-impose a partial lockdown nationwide.

* The Dutch government decided to re-impose measures, including the wearing of face masks, aimed at slowing the latest spike in COVID-19 infections.

* Eli Lilly has retracted a request for European Union approval of its antibody-based COVID-19 treatment, citing a lack of demand from EU member states as the bloc focuses on other suppliers.

AMERICAS

* The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backed broad use of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 5 to 11, clearing the way for shots to go into young arms as soon as Wednesday.

* Mexico’s health ministry reported 269 confirmed coronavirus fatalities, bringing the country’s overall death toll from the pandemic to 288,733.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* China will not give up on its zero-tolerance policy towards local COVID-19 cases any time soon, some experts said, as the policy has allowed it to quickly quell local outbreaks, while the virus continues to spread outside its borders.

* South Korea said it would ramp up COVID-19 testing capability at schools, as infections among children have risen sharply, just weeks ahead of a plan to fully reopen schools nationwide.

* About 200 contracted factories that make sportswear for Nike across Vietnam have resumed operations after months of COVID-19 suspension, the government said, as it races to get its key manufacturing sector back on track.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has tested positive for COVID-19.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* As the devastating Delta variant surge eases in many regions of the world, scientists are charting when, and where, COVID-19 will transition to an endemic disease in 2022 and beyond, according to Reuters interviews with over a dozen leading disease experts.

* Two producers of COVID-19 tests in Britain said they had pulled some of their tests from the market after a new review system came into force, which has not yet granted approval for their previously accepted products.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Global shares hovered at record highs while currency markets and U.S. Treasuries were steady, as investors looked to the expected winding down of pandemic-era monetary stimulus in the world’s largest economy. [MKTS/GLOB]

* Emerging market currencies are headed for more trouble next year as mounting expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to quell inflation are set to keep the U.S. dollar in the driving seat, a Reuters poll showed.

* New Zealand’s central bank warned on Wednesday that growing global inflationary risks could lead to higher interest rates and declines in asset values.

* Indonesia’s economic growth is expected to have slowed significantly in the third quarter as restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the Delta variant of the virus put the brakes on a nascent recovery, a Reuters poll found.

* Growth in Ireland’s service sector eased slightly in October from the previous month but remained near historic highs as the COVID-19 recovery pushed growth in prices and work backlogs to their highest levels in 21 years, a survey found on Wednesday.

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