A passenger is tested by a doctor at a corona screening station in the medical center of the airport in Duesseldorf, western Germany, on July 27, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (PHOTO / AFP)

NEW YORK / PARIS  / LONDON - Unlisted biotech firm IDT Biologika has won approval from Germany’s vaccine regulator to become the third German company after BioNTech and CureVac to launch human trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine in the country.

The trial of the vaccine, which has been developed with the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), will be conducted on 30 participants aged between 18 and 55 who will receive two vaccinations at four-week intervals.

A larger Phase II trial, which will include elderly volunteers, is planned for the end of this year if the results of the early-stage study show the vaccine is safe and produces an immune response.

Based in Dessau-Rosslau in east Germany, IDT produces viral vaccines for pharmaceutical companies and is assisting in six COVID-19 projects including AstraZeneca’s experimental shot against COVID-19.

Its own so-called viral vector vaccine is based on a modified and harmless smallpox virus that has already been used to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus that causes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

Hundreds of potential COVID-19 vaccines are in various stages of development, with 41 prospects in human trials across the globe

Global COVID-19 cases

Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 34 million on Thursday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The global case count reached 34,092,696 with a total of 1,016,050 deaths worldwide as of 1:23 p.m. local time (1723 GMT), the CSSE data showed.

The United States reported the most cases and deaths, which stood at 7,252,701 and 207,331, respectively. India recorded 6,312,584 cases, ranking the second in the global chart. Brazil registered the world's third largest caseload of 4,810,935 and the second largest death toll of 143,952.

Countries with more than 750,000 cases also include Russia, Colombia, Peru, Spain and Argentina, while other countries with over 35,000 deaths include India, Mexico, Britain and Italy, according to the center. 

Italy

A total of 1,384 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Italy over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

This compares to 633 new infections on Wednesday and brings the total number of people currently infected to 52,647, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, 1,140 patients have recovered (against 1,198 recoveries on Wednesday) and 24 people have lost their lives (up from 19 fatalities on Wednesday), bringing the overall recoveries to 228,844 and the overall death toll to 35,918.

The total number of COVID-19 infections, fatalities and recoveries since the pandemic officially began here in late February has risen to 317,409 cases over the past 24 hours, the ministry said.

Of the total reported cases over the past 30 days, 50.8 percent occurred among people aged 19-50; 25.3 percent among people aged 51-70; 14 percent among kids aged 0-18; and 9.89 percent among the elderly aged 70 and over.

In the past 30 days, 52.6 percent of the cases were male, according to the National Institute of Health (ISS).

ALSO READ: Global COVID-19 cases surpass 1.5m, total deaths top 87,000

France

Paris is set to be placed on maximum COVID alert from as soon as Monday, Health Minister Olivier Veran said, a move likely to force the closure of restaurants and bars and impose further restrictions on public life.

Veran said the wider Paris region had now passed all three of the government’s criteria for being put on the highest level of alert. In the past 24 hours, the coronavirus infection rate had surpassed 250 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants.

“It is getting worse faster in Paris and its surrounds,” Veran told a news conference.

He said the government and Paris City Hall would take another look at the indicators on Sunday and act if there was no improvement. The situation, he said, was alarming in five other cities: Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse.

“The trajectory is deteriorating and this is putting stress on our healthcare system,” Veran continued, though nationwide there was no short-term risk of hospitals being overwhelmed by an influx of coronavirus patients.

French authorities reported a daily rise in new COVID-19 cases exceeding 13,000 again on Thursday. The virus has killed more than 32,000 people and infected over half a million in France.

For a city to be placed on maximum alert, the incidence rate must exceed 100 infections per 100,000 among elderly inhabitants and 250 per 100,000 among the general public, while at least 30 percent of intensive care beds are reserved for coronavirus patients.

In this scenario, the government last month said bars and restaurants would be shut, gyms and sports halls closed, and private celebrations such as weddings and parties limited to 30 people if held in a public space.

Restaurants and bars were shut down for two weeks from last Monday in Marseille, the Mediterranean port city at the epicentre of the second wave, prompting protests and a legal challenge, which failed.

Restaurateurs plan a protest on Friday in Paris in a bid to change the government’s approach.

Veran said there were signs of the crisis easing in Bordeaux, Nice and Marseille, where earlier rounds of restrictions were imposed before Paris.

France is now carrying out more than 1 million COVID tests each week. The government’s free-for-all testing policy, however, has put the system under huge strain, with queues snaking out of laboratories and long delays for results.

Argentina

Argentina’s coronavirus death toll leapt above 20,000 on Thursday as a large number of previously untallied fatalities were added to the total, emphasizing how the country has gone from regional role model to one of the worst-hit in the world.

The South American nation, which slowed the spread of the virus with a strict lockdown in March, reported 14,001 new COVID-19 cases to take the total confirmed infections to 765,002, one of the 10 highest in the world.

The health ministry added 3,352 deaths, most of which were from a backlog of fatalities from the province of Buenos Aires, taking the total to 20,288, just behind Russia.

The grains producing nation currently has one of the highest positive rates in the region, with confirmed daily cases versus tests topping 50% over the last week. The government has pledged to ramp up testing.

Argentina’s rolling 7-day average of daily cases and fatalities has continued to rise, even as other countries in the region have seen the spread of the virus slow in recent weeks as governments look to reopen their battered economies.

UK

Britain’s events industry warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday that more than 90,000 people in the exhibitions sector would be made redundant in the coming weeks unless he offered more support to replace a government job furlough scheme.

Under rules designed to stop a resurgence of COVID infections, people in Britain are generally not allowed to meet in groups of more than six, making traditional conferences, concerts and other large events impossible to organise.

Until now, many jobs in the sector have been supported by a government programme that paid up to 80 percent of staff wages, but that comes to an end this month.

The Events Industry Alliance, an umbrella group for trade bodies, said its members could not afford to use a new scheme, which offers a smaller amount of government support to businesses that bring workers back on reduced hours.

Brazil

Brazil registered 728 additional coronavirus deaths and 36,157 new cases over the last 24 hours, the nation’s health ministry said on Thursday evening.

The South American country has now registered 144,680 total coronavirus deaths and 4,847,092 total confirmed cases.

Brazil has the second worst coronavirus death toll in the world outside the United States. Daily deaths and cases have declined significantly in recent weeks, however health professionals are monitoring certain cities for potential second waves.

Russia

Russia reported 9,412 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, a daily record not seen since June 12 as the pandemic resurged, the country's COVID-19 response center said in a statement Friday.

According to official statistics, Russia's total number of COVID-19 infections has grown to 1,194,643.

In Moscow, 2,704 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the capital's total to 297,729, the center said.

Over the past day, 186 new deaths were reported, taking the country's death toll to 21,077, the center said, adding that 970,296 patients have recovered so far, including 6,054 over the past 24 hours.

As of Friday, 222,592 people remained under medical observation, while over 46.8 million COVID-19 tests have been conducted across the country. 

Moscow may reinstate tough measures if its 13 million population ignores COVID-19 protection rules, its mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Thursday after the Russian capital started to record increases in daily cases of infection.

Moscow, the epicentre of Russia’s coronavirus outbreak earlier this year, registered 2,424 new cases overnight, up from below 700 in new daily cases in early September.

US

US President Donald Trump said that he would begin self-quarantine while waiting for coronavirus test results after Hope Hicks, one of his closest aides, tested positive for Covid-19.

Hope Hicks, one of Donald Trump’s closest aides, has tested positive for coronavirus infection. Trump said in a Fox News interview on Thursday night that he and first lady Melania Trump have taken coronavirus tests after Hicks tested positive and would get the result “either tonight or tomorrow morning.”

Hicks traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to and from the presidential debate on Tuesday. Hicks is the latest person in Trump’s orbit to contract the virus, which has infected more than 7.2 million Americans and killed more than 200,000. Other senior staff have contracted Covid-19 and recovered including National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, but few spend as much time with the president as Hicks, whose service dates to his 2016 campaign.

Coronavirus cases in the US increased 0.6 percent to 7.26 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The increase matched the average daily gain over the past week. Deaths rose to 207,374.

Algeria

Algeria on Thursday reported 160 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally of the infections to 51,690, the Ministry of Health said.

The ministry also announced seven new fatalities from coronavirus, raising the death toll in the North African country to 1,741.

Meanwhile, 108 more patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 36,282.

Earlier in the day, Algerian Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid hailed the efforts made by medical staff to contain the virus, the official APS news agency reported.

He stressed that "Algeria has won the battle against COVID-19, but vigilance is still required to avoid falling into a second wave."

Bulgaria

Bulgarian Vice-President Iliana Iotova said here on Thursday evening that her country has learned from China's experience in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and is grateful for the help from China.

Iotova made the remarks during the online celebration of the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Bulgaria.

The global pandemic has challenged relations between peoples, countries and continents, Iotova said.

Poland

The Polish government has added certain urban areas to the list of zones with tightened COVID-19 restrictions after a new daily record of confirmed cases was broken on Thursday.

With 1,967 new cases and 30 deaths in a 24-hour period, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has reached 93,481 and the death toll 2,543 in Poland, according to the Ministry of Health. COVID-19 continues to surge in the country and the daily record has been broken multiple times during the past week.

The port cities of Gdansk and Szczecin, both with populations of over 400,000, have been designated as so-called "yellow zones." Conferences and fairs are allowed to admit one person per four square meters and cultural and sporting events can only host 25 percent of their normal capacity. Other large cities that will face similar restrictions include the regional capitals Kielce and Rzeszow, as well as Gdynia, the twin city of Gdansk.

Further restrictions are imposed in the so-called "red zones," where mass events with spectators are now banned. The most prominent addition to this list is Sopot, a seaside resort that lies between Gdansk and Gdynia.

Finland

Confirmed COVID-19 cases have exceeded 10,000 in Finland, the country's Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said on Thursday.

According to the THL, as of Thursday afternoon, Finland had confirmed a total of 10,103 COVID-19 infections, of which 111 were new. The death toll reached 344, and no death was reported in the past 24 hours. A total of 1,050,500 people have been tested in Finland to date.

During the most recent 14-day follow-up period (Sept. 15-28), 1,187 new cases were diagnosed, equaling 21.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the THL said.

At a press conference held jointly by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the THL, public health officials said that the number of new COVID-19 cases in Finland had increased significantly on a weekly basis over the past month, and the country was in the acceleration phase of the epidemic.

READ MORE: COVID-19: Spain deaths slow; over 1.2 million global cases

Morocco

Morocco on Thursday reported 2,391 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 126,044.

The death toll rose by 35 to 2,229, while 437 patients are in intensive care units, said the Moroccan Ministry of Health in a press release.

The number of recoveries from the coronavirus in Morocco increased to 104,136 after 1,421 more recoveries were added on Thursday, the ministry said.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in Morocco is now 1.8 percent and the current recovery rate is 82.6 percent.

Germany

Germany has started a large-scale antibody study with 34,000 adult volunteers to investigate the spread of COVID-19, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) said Thursday.

Samples and research data are to be collected until the end of December in order to provide "first meaningful results on the antibody status for all of Germany," according to a joint press release by DIW and the RKI, the federal agency for disease control and prevention.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 2,673 to 294,395, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday.

The reported death toll rose by 8 to 9,508, the tally showed.

Cameroon

Cameroon's Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi on Thursday announced the resumption of all sporting and physical activities in the country after several months of COVID-19 disruptions.

The activities must take place in strict respect of health and anti-COVID measures prescribed by the government, Kombi said in a statement.

Ukraine 

Ukraine registered a record 4,633 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the national security council said on Friday, up from a previous record of 4,069 new cases reported on Thursday and the biggest daily jump since the start of the epidemic.

The daily tally of coronavirus infections spiked in late September and early October above 4,000, prompting the government to extend lockdown measures until the end of October.

The council said a total of 217,661 cases had been registered in Ukraine as of Oct. 2, with 4,261 deaths