Healthcare workers attend to a COVID-19 patient in an intensive care unit (ICU) at Na Bulovce hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Oct 1, 2020. (PETR DAVID JOSEK / AP)

WASHINGTON / BRUSSELS / BERLIN / TOUBA / RIO DE JANEIRO / LONDON / MEXICO CITY / QUITO / PARIS / BUCHAREST / TRIPOLI / KIEV / PRAGUE / ALGIERS / WINDHOEK / BUENOS AIRES / SANTIAGO / ADDIS ABABA / RABAT / SOFIA / OTTAWA / MOSCOW / WARSAW - In Netherlands, a surge in new cases has catapulted the per capita infection rate into the top 10 in the world, with a weekly infection rate of around 160 per 100,000 population, as that plan has run into trouble.

On Wednesday, the Dutch parliament was debating an emergency law that would give government the power to make masks mandatory in public places if it chose to, as new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands reached a record high of nearly 5,000 in 24 hours, data released by health authorities on Wednesday showed.

Officials have warned that tougher restrictions will be needed if infection and hospital admission rates continue to rise at such a rapid pace.

After the first wave of infections waned in May, the Netherlands worked to boost testing capacity, promising they would be available to all. The strategy was to find hotspots fast, and isolate people quickly to stop contagion.

Laboratories said they had increased capacity by two-thirds to 51,000 tests per day.

WHO

The WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called on governments to ensure that when a vaccine arrives it’s administered to “some in all countries, rather than all people in some countries.”

“It’s natural that governments want to protect their own citizens first,” he said at a global security forum in Bratislava, Slovakia. “But once a vaccine is approved, production will be limited initially and we must decide who to prioritize. Vaccinating older people, those with underlying conditions and essential workers in all countries is the best way to suppress transmission everywhere.”

Global tally

Global coronavirus infections surpassed 35.8 million Wednesday while the global death toll neared 1.05 million, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

ALSO READ: WHO's Tedros: COVID-19 vaccine may be ready by year-end

Shortage of Remdesivir in Europe

European countries are facing shortages of COVID-19 drug remdesivir because limited supplies are running out, officials said, with cases surging and the United States having bought up most of drugmaker Gilead's output.

Gilead Chief Commercial Officer Johanna Mercier said the company expects by next week to be in a position to fulfill orders coming through Europe and by the end of October to be able to meet real-time global demand for remdesivir.

Hospitalizations across Europe have been rapidly increasing, although in most countries still far below levels of the spring.

The Netherlands said its supply "has run out" while Poland said the drug was in short supply in some hospitals. 

Spain experienced shortages in late August, its medicine agency said. It now has enough doses to meet needs for the coming weeks, the health ministry said .

Britain has said it was prioritizing COVID-19 patients who need it most.

Algeria

Algeria reported on Tuesday 129 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily increase since June 20, the Ministry of Health said.

The new figure brought the tally of infections to 52,399, the ministry said.

Deaths rose by five to 1,733, the ministry added.

Argentina

Argentina reported a daily record of 14,740 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 824,468. 

The government has arranged "to aid" provinces in the interior of the country given the exponential growth of COVID-19 cases in areas outside the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, President Alberto Fernandez said Tuesday.

During a tour of the province of La Rioja, Fernandez signed several cooperation agreements with local authorities and announced the implementation of the program "Strategic Coronavirus Testing Mechanism in Argentina."

The program aims to strengthen government support in the face of rising COVID-19 cases, including sending work teams and health supplies to enhance field testing capabilities.

Belgium

Brussels ordered all bars in the 19 communes making up the capital region to close for one month starting tomorrow and introduced a ban on alcohol consumption in public spaces.

The Belgian capital region’s 14-day incidence rate has surpassed 500 per 100,000, according to the latest data. That makes it the second-hardest hit capital in Europe, behind Madrid and before Paris, government virologist Steven Van Gucht said at a briefing.

Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said that from Friday Belgians should limit to three the number of people outside their homes for whom they did not observe social distancing.

No more than four people should be invited inside a home, be seated at a single bar table or gather outside. Bars will all have to close at 11 pm.

COVID-19 has claimed 10,078 lives in the country of 11 million people, producing one of the highest per capita fatality rates in the world.

The average daily number of new infections over a week passed 2,300 on Tuesday. Hospital admissions are also rising, as are deaths from the virus in the country.

Brazil

Brazil registered on Tuesday 41,906 new cases of the coronavirus, the highest number for a single day since Sept 11, the Health Ministry said.

Deaths rose by 819 to 147,494.

Testing of Russia's "Sputnik-V" COVID-19 vaccine has not begun in Brazil, the Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said on Tuesday.

Brazil's Paraná and Bahia states, which have testing and production or distribution agreements for the Russian vaccine, have not yet filed requests for clinical trials in Brazil, a spokeswoman for Anvisa said.

Meanwhile, trials for the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca Plc, and another potential vaccine by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd are being conducted at a dozen sites and initial data sent in to Anvisa.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria registered a record high 436 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, data from the national information platform on the disease showed on Wednesday.

A total of 22,306 COVID-19 cases have been registered in the Balkan country of 7 million people, including 862 deaths. Eight people died in the past 24 hours.

Canada

Canada's Health Minister Patty Hajdu called on Canadians Tuesday to hold virtual Thanksgiving celebrations this year as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the country.

An average of 1,951 new cases has been reported daily in the past seven days, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Canada has reported a total of 170,945 cases, including 9,527 deaths, according to CTV.

Over the past week, there was an average of 613 COVID-19 cases in hospitals daily and 16 deaths reported daily, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.  

A woman wearing a face mask walks past a store with a notice reminding customers of a mandatory face mask requirement, at CF Toronto Eaton Center in Toronto, Canada, on Oct 6, 2020. (ZOU ZHENG / XINHUA)

Chile

Health authorities in the Magallanes region in the extreme south of Chile are on high alert due to a second wave of COVID-19 infections, making it the most affected area in the country, the Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday.

The ministry has decided to step up preventive health measures in the region, including restricting access from outside of the region, strengthening medical teams in the area, increasing the number of patients referred to Santiago, and investigating the causes behind the increase in infections.

In the last 24 hours, 1,554 new cases were registered in Chile, bringing the tally to 473,306, while 33 more deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 13,070.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic reported a record 4,457 new coronavirus cases in a single day, Health Ministry data showed on Wednesday, as a spike in infections over the past month is now rising at Europe's fastest pace.

The Czech Republic reported a record 4,457 new cases to bring the tally to 90,022 - a fourfold increase since Aug 25

The daily rise in new COVID-19 cases, recorded on Tuesday, took the tally to 90,022 - a fourfold increase since Aug 25. So far, 794 deaths had been reported.

Hospitalizations have soared tenfold in that period to add strain on the healthcare system.

Over the past two weeks, the Czech Republic has reported 326.8 cases per 100,000, surpassing for the first time Spain,hich has seen 302.4 cases per 100,000, according to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) data collected by Oct 6.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has climbed to 1,387, of which 326 are in intensive care - more than three times the peak seen when the outbreak first hit.

Health Minister Roman Prymula said that a tightening of existing measures will be announced on Friday, focusing on past-time activities.

Ecuador

Ecuador is in talks with pharmaceutical companies to access a vaccine against the novel coronavirus once it's available, but there are hurdles such as a steep initial fee, Public Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos said Tuesday.

The amount of the fee depends on the population, but vaccines will cost US$1.6 or US$3.2 per person, "because in most cases, there are two vaccine (shots): an initial vaccine and a reinforcement that comes later," said Zevallos.

In Ecuador's case, it all adds up to "a considerable cost," since the government expects to vaccinate 10 million people in an initial phase of immunization, said the minister.

Ecuador has so far reported 142,056 infections and 11,702 deaths. 

Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Ministry of Health said on Tuesday the country's tally of COVID-19 infections reached 80,003 after 566 new cases were reported.

The death toll rose to 1,238 after eight more fatalities were reported, according to the ministry.

EU

The European Union (EU) member states' finance and economic affairs ministers reached a political agreement on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) on Tuesday.

The RRF is the main instrument under the 750-billion-euro (US$883.3 billion) coronavirus crisis recovery package negotiated by EU leaders at their meeting in July.

The aim of the 672.5-billion-euro RRF is to provide large-scale financial support for reforms and investments undertaken by the member states, to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to make the EU economies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges posed by the green and digital transitions, according to a press release issued after the ministers' video conference.

The RRF will offer a mix of grants (312.5 billion euros) and loans (360 billion euros) to EU member states, according to the press release.

Member states will be able to submit their Recovery and Resilience Plans informally from Oct 15, European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said.

People walk by a closed bar in Paris, France, Oct 6, 2020. (LEWIS JOLY / AP)

France

France reported 10,489 newly confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the tally to 634,763.

The number of people in hospital with coronavirus was up by 104 to 7,397, continuing an upward trend that started early September. 

The number of people in intensive care rose by 11 to 1,426.

ALSO READ: Paris bars close as coronavirus spreads

Germany

Coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 2,828 to 306,086 while deaths rose by 16 to 9,562, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Wednesday.

Germany’s capital decided on Tuesday to impose a late-night curfew on restaurants and bars to contain surging numbers of new cases in Berlin.

From this weekend until the end of October, restaurants and bars will have to close at 11pm (2100 GMT) until 6 am (0400 GMT) and petrol stations will be banned from selling alcohol during those hours. In addition, a maximum of 10 people will be allowed at private parties indoors, down from 25.

Four out of 12 Berlin districts have become high-risk zones, according to health senate figures from Monday. 

Schleswig-Holstein and Rhineland-Palatinate have designated these districts risk areas and insist people returning from there quarantine for 14 days or show a negative corona test.

Members of the German parliament, the Bundestag, are required to wear mouth and nose coverings from Tuesday.

Hungary

Romania is introducing restrictions in Bucharest on Wednesday for the first time since May after a record number of people in intensive-care units raised pressure on hospitals.

Indoor dining in Bucharest restaurants will be banned, theaters and cinemas closed, and authorities will intensify police controls to ensure social distancing rules are respected in markets, public transport and schools. New infections are mounting across eastern Europe, with Poland, Bulgaria and Slovenia registering record increases in cases.

Hungary registered a record 24 deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, taking the death toll to 877 in the nation of 10 million. 

The country has so far reported 32,298 confirmed cases, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Italy

Italy on Wednesday made it mandatory to wear face masks outdoors nationwide in an effort to reduce rising COVID-19 infections, the health ministry said after the cabinet agreed on the measure.

The cabinet also approved a decree to extend the COVID-19 state of emergency to Jan31.

The state of emergency, originally due to expire in mid-October, gives greater powers to central government, making it easier for officials to bypass the bureaucracy that smothers much decision-making in Italy.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has recovered from COVID-19, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The media tycoon, who spent the first half of September in a Milan hospital before being sent home under quarantine, has now tested negative for the virus and is waiting for the result of a second swab for final confirmation, the source said.

Berlusconi, 84, developed double pneumonia and was in Milan's San Raffaele hospital for more than 10 days.

Passengers wearing face masks walk on a platform at a metro station in Berlin, capital of Germany, Oct 5, 2020. (BINH TRUONG / XINHUA)

Libya

The National Center for Disease Control of Libya reported on Monday 1,031 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in the previous 24 hours, bringing the nationwide count to 38,468.

The center also registered 334 more recoveries and six deaths, bringing the number of recoveries and the death toll to 22,410 and 602, respectively.

Mexico

Mexico's health ministry reported on Tuesday 4,828 newly confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 471 additional fatalities, bringing the tally to 794,608 and the death toll to 82,348.

The head of Mexico’s tax authority, Raquel Buenrostro, has tested positive for COVID-19, her media office said.

Morocco

Morocco reported on Tuesday 2,553 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally to 137,248.

The death toll rose by 41 to 2,410 while the number of recoveries increased by 2,018 to 115,354, the Ministry of Health said in a press release.

Casablanca remains the worst-hit region in the country, registering 1,420 newly confirmed cases and 17 more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Namibia

Entry into Namibia is open for Namibian citizens, permanent residence permit holders and people domiciled in Namibia, an official clarified Tuesday.

All persons entering Namibia, with the exception of tourists, are subject to a seven-day quarantine at their own cost unless exempted, according to Minister of Health Kalumbi Shangula.

The southwestern African nation reported 19 new cases Tuesday, bringing the tally to 11,673, including 9,611 recoveries and 125 deaths.

The number of active cases stood at 1,937. 

Poland

Poland reported on Wednesday a daily record of 3,003 new coronavirus cases as well as a record of 75 deaths, as the country grapples with a rapid surge in cases and imposes new restrictions while trying to dodge a full lockdown.

Poland now has a total of 107,319 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,792 deaths.

The health ministry's spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz told reporters the capital Warsaw would soon face stricter curbs, such as the need to wear a mask outside at all times.

Romania

Romanian authorities will close theaters, cinemas and indoor restaurants in the capital Bucharest and several other cities from Wednesday to try to stem an increase in coronavirus infections, they said on Tuesday.

Also from Wednesday, travelers from 49 high-risk countries, including France, Spain and Britain, will need to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival, except those traveling for less than three days, who must have a negative coronavirus test.

Across the country, officials said on Monday they were banning religious pilgrimages.

Romania has been reporting more than 2,000 new cases daily almost every day for the past week, bringing the tally to 139,612, including 109,898 recoveries and 5,121 deaths. The country has the highest fatality rate in the European Union's eastern wing.

Russia

Russia reported on Wednesday 11,115 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, pushing its nationwide tally to 1,248,619.

Russia's coronavirus crisis centre said 202 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 21,865.

Wearing protective face masks, pilgrims from the Mouride Brotherhood pray outside the Grand Mosque of Touba during the celebrations of the Grand Magal of Touba, in Senegal, Oct 6, 2020. (LEO CORREA / AP)

Senegal

Organizers of an annual religious festival in the Senegalese city of Touba are expecting three to five million pilgrims this week, despite the main ceremony on Tuesday being canceled in an effort to lower the risk of coronavirus contagion.

Other events are being video-streamed to avoid overcrowding, but no restrictions are in place to prevent followers of the Mouride Brotherhood from making the trip to the sacred site.

The expected crowds would represent a marked departure from religious gatherings and sports events around the world that have been cancelled or severely curtailed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections during the global pandemic.

Senegal has reported 15,141 cases of the coronavirus so far and 312 deaths.

Slovenia

Slovenia on Wednesday reported 356 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's total to 7,120, according to the latest official data.

The daily figure hit a new high, breaking the previous record of 238 on Oct. 1. Meanwhile, hospitalizations also rose to a new high of 122. There are currently 2,426 active cases, and 22 patients are in intensive care units, showed data from the official COVID-19 tracker site.

The national COVID-19-related death toll remains unchanged at 159.

Switzerland

The number of new coronavirus infections rose by 1,077 in a day, data here from Switzerland's public health agency showed on Wednesday, the first daily increase of more than 1,000 since early April.

The agency reported a total of 57,709 confirmed cases, up from 56,632 on Tuesday. The death toll rose by two to 1,789.

The country reported its first confirmed case in late February. New daily cases peaked at 1,456 on March 23 and had dwindled to as few as three on June 1.

UK

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that COVID-19 infections were rising in London and elsewhere, but that his government’s approach to controlling the spread of the virus was still the right one.

Britain's COVID-19 testing system, already struggling with a surge in new cases, was facing more disruption on Wednesday after Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said problems at a new warehouse had delayed the dispatch of some products.

Britain's trade minister Liz Truss declined to comment on Wednesday on whether the government could bring in a "circuit breaker" national lockdown for two weeks but said that all measures were kept under review.

She said local lockdowns and different restrictions across Britain are the best way for the country to deal with the coronavirus at the moment.

Earlier on Wednesday, Britain's national COVID-19 testing system was facing disruption after Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said problems at a new warehouse had delayed the dispatch of some products.

Roche is one of the main suppliers of diagnostic tests to the National Health Service (NHS) Test and Trace programme, which has already suffered setbacks including a technical glitch that delayed the reporting of 15,000 positive results.

British members of parliament (MPs) voted Tuesday in favor of the "rule of six" COVID-19 regulations in England by 287 votes to 17, with a majority 270

Truss said the problem did not appear to be causing delays in the Test and Trace programme at this point.

British members of parliament (MPs) voted Tuesday in favor of the "rule of six" COVID-19 regulations in England by 287 votes to 17, with a majority 270.

The vote came as the UK reported 14,542 new cases of COVID-19 and another 76 deaths on Tuesday, taking the tally to 530,113 and the death toll to 42,445, according to government data.

The number of COVID-19 patients in English hospitals rose to 2,783, the most since June 25, according to government data. 

Meanwhile, the government will not announce an anticipated plan to introduce COVID-19 testing for international arrivals until November, and instead the government will set up a global travel taskforce, which is expected to be announced Thursday, The Guardian reported Tuesday.

Ukraine

Ukraine registered a record 4,753 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the national security council said on Wednesday, up from a previous record of 4,661 new cases reported on Oct 3.

The council said a total of 239,337 cases had been registered in Ukraine as of Oct 7, including 4,597 deaths, of which 77 were newly reported in the past 24 hours.

A member of the cleaning staff in protective gear disinfects the James Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Oct 5, 2020. (ALEX BRANDON / AP)

US

The rise in COVID-19 cases among officials in Washington is not disrupting the US government, the White House said on Tuesday, as White House senior adviser Stephen Miller said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and the nation’s top military leaders moved into quarantine.

President Donald Trump disclosed on Friday that he and his wife, Melania, were infected, and the list of people who were in their proximity or at the White House in the days before the disclosure was still growing. Trump, who was released from the hospital Monday, reported no symptoms, his doctor said.

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller said he has tested positive for COVID-19 while the Pentagon said Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other top US military leaders are self-quarantining

White House Deputy Press Secretary Brian Morgenstern told CNN late on Tuesday that there were no new COVID-19 cases in the White House beside Miller.

READ MORE: Biden: Shouldn't have next debate if Trump still has COVID

The Pentagon said Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other top US military leaders are self-quarantining after the Coast Guard’s No. 2 tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend. 

In addition to Milley, Vice-Chairman John Hyten and several other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also entered quarantine, according to CBS News.

Top US infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose advocacy of public health guidelines to fight the coronavirus has conflicted with President Donald Trump’s downplaying of the pandemic, said on Tuesday the recent rash of infections at the White House could have been prevented.

Nationwide, coronavirus cases in the US topped 7.5 million Wednesday as deaths neared 211,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

On coronavirus aid, Trump abruptly ended negotiations with Congress Tuesday over a large coronavirus bill.

READ MORE: Trump faces criticism after halting COVID-19 relief talks

Meanwhile on vaccines, the US Food and Drug Administration told coronavirus vaccine developers it wants at least two months of safety data before authorizing emergency use. 

The head of the US government's Operation Warp Speed vaccine development program said efficacy data on one or two vaccines will be available within the next month or two, and that there should be enough supply to immunize 30 million people during November and December.