Japan, S. Korea leaders on back foot

Biggest financial risk

South Korean financiers picked a prolonged pandemic as the biggest financial risk for the economy, a central bank survey showed on Monday.

According to the Bank of Korea survey, the highest number of respondents selected the possible prolongation of the pandemic as the biggest risk facing the country's financial system.

It was followed by policy uncertainty under a new United States administration, weakened corporate earnings and the reduced household income resulting from increased unemployment.

Globally, more than 71.15 million people had been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus and 1,608,736 had died as of Monday morning, according to a Reuters tally.

In Europe, Spain's health minister said on Sunday that the country should achieve herd immunity by the end of summer 2021 if enough people are vaccinated by then.

Salvador Illa said a vaccination program will start in January and by the end of the summer more than two thirds of the population should be vaccinated. However, Illa cautioned Spaniards against dropping their guard during the Christmas period.

Italy on Sunday eclipsed Britain to become the nation with the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe. Italy registered 484 deaths in one day, one of its lowest one-day death counts in about a month. Still, those latest deaths pushed Italy's official toll up to 64,520, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

In France, a further 11,533 people tested positive on Sunday, the lowest daily tally for the latest seven-day period, while more patients were admitted to hospital. The development ended a weeklong decline in hospitalization, official data showed.

Xinhua - Agencies