People wearing face masks walk in front of a store in Hollywood Boulevard amid the coronavirus pandemic, Nov 16, 2020 in Hollywood, California. (VALERIE MACON / AFP)

GENEVA / PARIS / MADRID / RIO DE JANEIRO / ROME / KIEV / LONDON / MEXICO CITY / BERLIN / OSLO / BRUSSELS / BUENOS AIRES / SANTIAGO / NAIROBI / ADDIS ABABA / ATHENS / KIGALI / LUANDA / MOSCOW / SOFIA / COPENHAGEN - In a matter of days, America’s long effort to revive its virus-battered economy has been put on pause -- or thrown into reverse -- as new infections soar at the fastest pace since the pandemic’s earliest days.

California on Monday reinstituted bans on many indoor businesses, and its governor warned he may impose a curfew. Michigan has ordered a three-week partial shutdown, while states including Oregon, Washington and New Jersey tightened curbs. Even the governor of Iowa, long resistant to virus rules, issued a limited mask mandate Monday.

The new restrictions follow a rapid surge in cases -- with the country adding a million infections in the first 10 days of November alone -- that has led health officials to issue dire warnings about the prospect of uncontrollable outbreaks as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. 

The nation’s average new-case count for the past seven days has jumped 37 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University data, the fastest at any point in the US since late March.

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Global tally

The number of coronavirus cases recorded across the world has surpassed 55 million while the global death toll has exceeded 1.32 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Infections at WHO Geneva HQ

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday there had been 65 coronavirus infections among staff at its Geneva headquarters since the start of the pandemic and that a possible small cluster of cases was under investigation.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead for COVID-19, said that five WHO staff members had tested positive in the past week, adding that: "All are doing well, all have had mild disease or (are) asymptomatic."

Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergency expert, said that the Swiss cantons of Geneva and the adjoining Vaud canton have "some of the most intense transmission in the world right now".

"To my knowledge the cluster being investigated is the first evidence of potential transmission on the site of WHO, but we can't completely protect ourselves from our own social and other engagements with family and school and so many other things," he said.

This photo taken on Aug 17, 2020 shows the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)

Spike in Europe, Americas

The WHO said Monday that it's "extremely concerned" about the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in some countries, particularly in Europe and the Americas.

"Right now we are extremely concerned by the surge in cases we're seeing in some countries. Particularly in Europe and the Americas, health workers and health systems are being pushed to the breaking point," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing.

It marked his return to the Geneva agency from quarantine after being exposed to coronavirus some 17 days ago. Tedros said he had no symptoms and had seen no need for a test.

There is no excuse for inaction. My message is very clear: act fast, act now, act decisively.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general

He warned that "those countries that are letting the virus run unchecked are playing with fire," as there will be "further needless deaths and suffering," "a significant number of people experiencing long-term effects of the virus," and health workers in particular facing "extreme mental health pressure and cases severely burdening health systems in too many countries."

According to the latest WHO statistics, as of 2:59 pm CET (Central European Time) on Monday, the organization's regional offices in Europe and the Americas had recorded 15,266,390 and 23,190,772 confirmed cases, respectively, including 344,459 and 679,201 deaths, respectively.

ALSO READ: Europe should use all tools at its disposal to contain novel coronavirus

The two regions combined have recorded more than 70 percent of the overall confirmed cases and over 77 percent of all COVID-19 deaths worldwide. Many countries in the two regions have reported record daily spikes in infection in the past few weeks.

"There is no excuse for inaction. My message is very clear: act fast, act now, act decisively," urged Tedros.

WHO on vaccines

Meanwhile on COVID-19 vaccine, the WHO welcomed Moderna reporting on Monday that its experimental vaccine showed 94.5 percent efficacy but said that "many questions" remained and it was no time for complacency.

Only very limited amounts of any vaccine will be available in the first half of 2021 for people other than priority health workers, WHO officials said.

Africa tally

The number of confirmed cases recorded across the African continent has reached 1,977,165 while the death toll has risen to 47,375, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Monday.

Angola

The WHO representative in Angola, Djamila Cabral, on Monday urged the Angolan government to expand investment in health sector and build a resilient system to cope with the current COVID-19 situation.

Cabral, who made the call following a meeting with Angola's Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta, stressed that all the health sector support donated to Angola should be adapted to the current situation of the pandemic. Cabral said the WHO has an estimated US$35 million to aid Angola this and the next year.

The WHO representative praised the efforts being implemented by the Angolan government to fight against COVID-19, referring to the contingency measures adopted by the health sector to stop the spread of the virus in the country.

"They are on a good track, although in recent weeks the numbers have been increasing," she said.

Argentina

Argentina's government on Monday urged the public to double down on prevention measures against the novel coronavirus as more people emerged from lockdown.

While in previous weeks "we managed to reduce the number of daily infections by 27 percent ... that decline has now stopped," said the Health Ministry's Secretary of Health Access Carla Vizzotti.

Overall occupancy of intensive care beds nationwide stood at 58 percent, according to the Ministry of Health.

As of Monday, the country has reported 1,310,491 cases and 35,436 deaths.

Austria

While Austrians experienced the first day of stricter measures, softer rules imposed two weeks earlier showed some results. The 7-day incidence fell for the fourth consecutive day, and recoveries reported on Tuesday outpaced new cases for the second time since early October.

Still, the incidence per 100,000 remains above 500, and hospitalizations and ICU usage are at record levels. The tougher rules are planned to last until Dec 6.

Brazil

Brazil recorded 13,371 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 216 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

Brazil has registered 5,876,464 cases and 166,014 deaths, according to ministry data.

Hospital admissions in Sao Paulo increased 18 percent in the first half of November, prompting the local government to announce on Monday it would delay a further relaxation of restrictions until Nov 30.

Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Health Ministry on Tuesday morning reported that a record 152 additional COVID-19 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 2,282.

The previous daily record of 106 deaths was reported last Tuesday.

The number of confirmed infections increased by 3,519 to 101,770, according to the ministry.

There were 5,353 patients hospitalized, of whom 288 were in intensive care, while the number of infected medical workers stood at 4,011.

Canada

Canada's remote Arctic territory of Nunavut is suffering its first community outbreak of COVID-19 and will close all non-essential services, as well as schools, for at least two weeks, officials said on Monday.

COVID-19 outbreaks in Canada's northern territories are particularly concerning because healthcare services are limited and because there are often numerous people living under the same roof, which facilitates the spread of the virus.

There had been no coronavirus transmission within the territory of about 36,000 people until earlier this month. There are now 26 confirmed cases, Michael Patterson, Nunavut's chief public health officer, said. Two of the three most-populated towns in Nunavut have confirmed cases. 

Starting on Wednesday, all non-essential services will be closed for two weeks and wearing a mask is strongly recommended. The Iqaluit hospital and health centers around the territory will be closed except for emergencies, and gatherings will be limited to a maximum of five people not from the same household.

Canada has recorded 301,332 confirmed cases nationwide and 11,007 deaths, according to CTV.

Chile

Chile on Monday reported 1,331 new cases of COVID-19, pushing its caseload to 532,604.

Another 44 deaths were registered, raising the death toll to 14,863.

"The number of positive cases in relation to the world has dropped," Health Minister Enrique Paris, praising healthcare workers for helping to contain the outbreak.

In addition, Chile "went from fourth to eighth place in deaths per million inhabitants worldwide, which deserves recognition for the people who work to save more lives and control the pandemic," Paris said.

Chile also "set the record in Latin America" with 251,473 COVID-19 tests per million inhabitants, ahead of Colombia and Brazil, he noted.

Denmark

Denmark's minority government has agreed with supporting parties to create the legal basis for an order to cull all of the farmed mink in the country given earlier this month to prevent the spread of a new strain of coronavirus.

The deal, which will be made into law in the coming month, will ban all mink breeding until 2022 and provide a legal basis for ordering farmers to cull their healthy mink herds, which contain up to 17 million animals. Culls of infected mink had already been taking place under existing law.

EU

The European Commission will authorize a deal with German biotech firm CureVac on Tuesday to secure up to 405 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said.

The deal will be authorised by the Commission on Tuesday, von der Leyen said, while the actual signature will take place some days later.

The deal will initially cover 225 million doses, with an option to buy another 180 million.

It follows supply agreements the Commission has reached with AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, and Pfizer for the supply of their potential vaccines.

A man with her daughter, both wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus, cross the Arts bridge in Paris, France, Nov 16, 2020. (MICHEL EULER / AP)

France

French bars and restaurants will remain closed until mid-January as the government tries to tamp down the resurgent coronavirus outbreak, France Info radio reported, as officials weigh when to allow shops to reopen.

The government closed non-essential businesses at the end of October as the number of virus cases surged, with a goal to reopen shops on Dec 1 if health conditions permit. Prime Minister Jean Castex, however, made clear that didn’t apply to bars and restaurants, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Tuesday in an interview on France 2 television.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that bars and restaurants would not reopen in December and travel restrictions would not be lifted

Government officials will review the situation for bars and restaurants next month, he said when asked about the France Info report of a Jan 15 reopening.

Health Minister Olivier Veran also said on BFM TV that bars and restaurants would not reopen in December and travel restrictions would not be lifted. 

Veran said the country was regaining control over the coronavirus but was not ready to ease the current lockdown.

French health authorities on Monday reported 9,406 new cases over the past 24 hours, a more than one-month low and a figure sharply down from Sunday's 27,228.

The number of people hospitalized, however, was up by 416 to reach a new all-time high of 33,497. 

The death toll increased by 506 to 45,054, versus a seven-day moving average of 581.

Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the federal state governments have agreed not to tighten mandatory COVID-19 measures in Germany for the time being as the rate of new COVID-19 infections in the country has begun to slow, local media reported Tuesday.

Instead of introducing tougher COVID-19 measures, Merkel and the minister presidents of the federal states only appealed to the German population to reduce social contact to a minimum as the country is in the middle of a partial month-long lockdown for November, according to Deutsche Presse Agentur.

New COVID-19 infections in Germany increased 14,419 over the past 24 hours, bringing the national total to 815,746

Greece

The healthcare system in Greece is nearing its limits as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting the country stronger, with new infections, deaths and patients who are intubated on the rise in recent weeks, a Greek doctor has said.

"At the moment the healthcare system in our region is reaching its limits," Konstantinos Yannakopoulos, president of the Medical Association of Larissa, the capital of Thessaly region in central Greece, told Xinhua on Monday. 

"Our region is in the red zone. The two intensive care units (ICUs) are already full," said Yannakopoulos. The city of Larissa is one of the areas with a heavy epidemiological load lately, according to official figures.

On Monday, the National Public Health Organization (EODY) reported 2,198 new infections, bringing the nation’s tally to 76,403. The number of patients under intubation rose to a record high of 400, while the death toll rose by 59 to 1,165.

The number of ICU beds has doubled within a few months, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said.

Currently, Greece has a total of 1,177 beds in ICUs, of which 263 are available (22 percent), according to Health Ministry sources on Monday.

Italy

Italy’s government approved the draft of next year’s budget, a crucial step toward gaining formal backing from parliament, including another package of aid to help the country get through a second lockdown.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s spending plans include about 38 billion euros (US$45 billion) to shore up its virus-ravaged economy, according to a draft. About 400 million euros will be set aside to buy coronavirus vaccines and other drugs. 

Italy has recorded over 1.2 million cases and 45,733 deaths. The health ministry said Monday 27,354 new cases and 504 more deaths over the past 24 hours.

The government called upon one of the country's leading emergency healthcare experts, who usually operates in warzones, to help sort out a growing coronavirus health crisis in the southern region of Calabria.

Gino Strada, who founded the Emergency NGO to aid civilian victims of war, has agreed to work alongside a new health commissioner in the toe of Italy, which is struggling to cope with a wave of coronavirus infections, the government said.

Healthcare in Calabria, one of Italy's poorest areas, has come sharply into focus this month, with two health chiefs being forced to quit in swift succession because of doubts over their ability to handle the virus crisis. The region is currently in partial lockdown and designated as a high-risk COVID-19 'red zone'.

Kenya

Kenya's Ministry of Health said on Monday that eight medics were among 274 people who have so far succumbed to COVID-19 in November.

Mutahi Kagwe, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Health, said that the other casualties included politicians, clerics, police officers and teachers.

Kenya has so far confirmed 70,804 infections since the outbreak of the disease. The country has also recorded 46,244 recoveries and 1,287 deaths.

Mexico

Mexico's health ministry on Monday reported 319 more COVID-19 deaths in the country, bringing the official death toll to 98,861.

Norway

Norway's minority government and the opposition Progress Party have agreed on another package of extraordinary spending to help pay for expenses related to the coronavirus pandemic, the parties said on Monday.

The package amounted to 22.1 billion crowns (US$2.44 billion), an increase from the 17.7 billion crowns proposed by the centre-right cabinet of Prime Minister Erna Solberg on Nov 10.

Pfizer

Pfizer Inc said on Monday it was starting a pilot program for COVID-19 immunization in four US states to help refine the plan for the delivery and deployment of its vaccine candidate.

The US drugmaker said it had selected Rhode Island, Texas, New Mexico, and Tennessee for the program because of their differences in overall size, diversity of populations and immunization infrastructure, as well as the states' need to reach individuals in varied urban and rural settings.

"The four states included in this pilot program will not receive vaccine doses earlier than other states by virtue of this pilot, nor will they receive any differential consideration," Pfizer said in a statement.

READ MORE: Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine more than 90% effective

A worker disinfects an ambulance at a hospital in Kommunarka, on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, on Nov 16, 2020. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP)

Russia

Mutations in the coronavirus are appearing in Siberia, the head of Russia's consumer health watchdog said on Tuesday, as the country reported a record daily high of 442 deaths from COVID-19.

"We see certain changes ... in Siberia which allow us to assume that in this region it is forming its own version with specific mutations," Anna Popova, head of Rospotrebnadzor, was quoted as saying by news agencies.

Popova did not give details on how contagious or deadly the mutation was considered to be but said it would not make the virus more dangerous.

Mutations of the coronavirus could not influence the vaccine's effectiveness, the Vector Institute's director general, Rinat Maksyutov, was quoted as saying by TASS.

Meanwhile, post-registration trials of Russia's second COVID-19 vaccine called EpiVacCorona, developed by Siberia's Vector Institute, were now underway, Popova confirmed. 

As for the Sputnik V shot, Russia expects to produce primarily freeze-dried doses of the vaccine by the spring, eliminating the need for transport at ultra-low temperatures as part of an ambitious plan to inoculate its population, said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

Separately, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin extended a remote learning period for secondary school children from classes 6-11 by two more weeks to Dec 6.

The city's health department said on Monday it had sent doctors to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg to help with the fight against COVID-19 there, something it did for other regions during the first wave of the virus in May.

Russia reported a record high of 442 deaths related to COVID-19 on Tuesday, taking the official death toll to 33,931.

Authorities also reported 22,410 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, including 5,882 in the capital Moscow, bringing the national tally to 1,971,013.

Rwanda 

Rwanda’s Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Health Ministry, has kicked off COVID-19 testing for all students who have spent two weeks at school since the reopening of schools earlier this month, a senior official announced Monday.

"The testing is aimed at finding out whether there has not been a coronavirus outbreak in schools since the reopening," Minister of Education Valentine Uwamariya told reporters at a news conference in the capital Kigali.

The testing targets about 200,000 students in primary and secondary schools as well as in tertiary institutions, she added.

A healthcare worker pushes her trolley past people queuing to be tested for COVID-19 at the Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Nov 13, 2020. (THEO JEPTHA / AP)

South Africa

South African hospitals likely under-reported the number of patients with COVID-19 and the death toll is probably much higher than the official figure, according to a study.

As many as 2.8 million people out of a population of 59 million may have had the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, and almost all of the country’s 62,056 excess deaths since the beginning of the year were probably caused by COIVD-19, Alex van den Heever, chair of Social Security Systems Administration and Management Studies at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand, said in a paper this month. His research used data to Oct 24.

“We think that he (Van den Heever) is overstating the number of excess deaths,” said Debbie Bradshaw, chief specialist scientist at the South African Medical Research Council and a co-author of the council’s weekly excess deaths report. Still, “we concur with his interpretation that the temporal trend across the provinces suggests most of deaths would be Covid related,” she said.

Bradshaw’s report estimates that there have been about 50,000 excess deaths.

South Africa has the most confirmed cases on the continent and the highest number of COVID-19 deaths, according to official figures. It has so far recorded more than 750,000 cases and more than 20,000 deaths, the world’s 14th highest toll. 

Spain

Spain's tally of coronavirus infections rose by 38,273 on Monday from Friday's level, health ministry data showed, marking a continued slowdown in the number of cases after they hit a weekend peak of more than 55,000 on Nov 2.

The increase brings Spain's tally to 1,496,864, the second highest in Europe after France. The data also showed 484 more fatalities, raising the death toll to 41,253.

"We continue to see a slightly declining trend in the number of infections... but it's still at 470 cases per 100,000. That's a lot of cases, a lot," health emergency coordinator Fernando Simon said.

Simon said that in 17 out of Spain's 19 autonomous regions and cities, new infections were either stabilizing or declining. 

However, the pressure on hospitals has continued to rise, with nearly a third of intensive care beds now occupied by COVID-19 patients, a trend Simon expected to persist for at least a few more days.

UK

Ten Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) in Britain have been in self-quarantine after they were informed that they had come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 at a meeting on Thursday, Sky News reported on Monday.

The news came a day after a Downing Street spokesperson announced that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has gone into self-isolation for the same reason.

Another two MPs, Marco Longhi and Matt Vickers, also announced on Monday that they were self-quarantining as both of them received a test from the NHS (National Health Service) Test and Trace service, Sky News reported. It was not clear if the two were at Thursday's meeting, Sky News said.   

Two other MPs who are in self-isolation after coming into contact with an infected person are Jacob Young, MP for Redcar and Cleveland, and Maria Miller, MP for Basingstoke MP, according to Sky News.

The United Kingdom reported 21,363 new cases and 213 additional deaths on Monday, taking the country's caseload to over 1.39 million and the toll to 52,147.

Health Minister Matt Hancock said Britain has secured 5 million doses of Moderna's experimental COVID-19 vaccine, with the earliest doses expected for delivery in spring.

READ MORE: Moderna says its vaccine is 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Public Health England Susan Hopkins said the government should consider “strengthening” regional virus restrictions after England exits its second national lockdown next month.

Ukraine

Ukrainian Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleh Nemchinov has said that all but two employees of the Cabinet's Secretariat have contracted COVID-19, Ukrinform news agency reported on Monday.

Nemchinov said that Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has not been infected and was taking a very responsible approach to prevent infection.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak, who were diagnosed with the coronavirus on Nov 9, are currently in isolated wards at the hospital, online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda reported on Thursday.

Several ministers, including Health Minister Maxym Stepanov, were reported to have contracted COVID-19 last week.

As of Monday, Ukraine has registered a total of 545,689 COVID-19 cases, including 9,697 deaths and 244,197 recoveries, according to the health ministry.