OVERVIEW: Australia outbreaks level off, other countries trying to buy Merck pill

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Reuters Reuters

-- Australia's Delta outbreak appears to have levelled off, with more than half the country in extended lockdowns and vaccination rates starting to approach national targets, Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Monday.

Hunt said 80% of Australians will have had their first COVID-19 jabs this week, while the overall battle against the virus has been boosted by the arrival in recent days of 15,000 additional doses of treatment drug sotrovimab. ...

-- Indonesia will reopen its tourist island Bali for some international travellers, including those from China, New Zealand and Japan, from Oct. 14, senior cabinet minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on Monday.

-- Thailand's government is in talks with U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co to purchase 200,000 courses of the company's experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 treatment, a Thai official said on Monday.

Many Asian countries are scrambling to lock in supplies of the potential treatment early after they lagged behind Western nations in vaccine rollouts, hit by tight supplies.

South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia said they are all in talks to buy Merck's potential treatment, while the Philippines, which is running a trial on the pill, said it hopes its domestic study would allow access to the treatment. read more  

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