People, wearing face masks, shop at the Athens central market on Nov 5, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

MEXICO CITY / SANTIAGO / BRASILIA / PARIS / ROME / COPENHAGEN / LONDON / MADRID / NICOSIA / LISBON / ATHENS / BOGOTA / BUENOS AIRES / RABAT / BELGRADE / LJUBLJANA / BERLIN / SANTIAGO / KIEV / MOSCOW / OTTAWA / STOCKHOLM / PRAGUE / KIGALI / SOFIA / OSLO / WARSAW / NAIROBI - Greece ordered a nationwide lockdown on Thursday for three weeks to help contain a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

“I’ve chosen to take drastic measures sooner rather than later,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

Under the new countrywide restrictions to take effect from Saturday, retail businesses will be shut with the exception of supermarkets and pharmacies. Civilians will need a time-slot permit to venture outdoors.

Primary schools will stay open, but high schools will shut.

The country has reported fewer cases than most in Europe, mainly due to an early nationwide lockdown that it imposed when the pandemic broke out in February. It started unwinding those restrictions in May.

Since early October it has seen a surge in infections and has been reimposing curbs. The resurgence was “particularly aggressive”, chief government scientific adviser Sotiris Tsiodras said, speaking alongside Mitsotakis.

Greece registered 2,646 infections on Wednesday, the highest daily tally since its first case surfaced, bringing the total number of cases to 46,892. So far, 673 people have died of the disease.

Germany

Germany's daily new coronavirus infections hit a record high on Thursday as data showed shoppers had stocked up on toilet paper, hand sanitizer and baking ingredients ahead of new lockdown measures that took effect this week.

Europe’s biggest economy had 31,480 new infections in the 24 hours through Thursday morning, bringing the tally to 608,611, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Deaths rose by 232, the most since early May, to 10,949.

According to a separate tally by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases, German cases increased by 19,990 to 597,583 while the death toll rose by 118 to 10,930.

The Statistics Office said rising coronavirus cases and the new partial lockdown, which took effect from Nov 2, had increased the demand for some hygiene articles and foodstuffs in the second half of October.

Global tally

Coronavirus deaths and new infections worldwide surged by daily records, almost one year after the disease emerged, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The global daily toll rose by more than 10,000 while global infections passed 600,000 in a day for the first time as the pandemic gathered pace, according to the data.

Over 48 million cases have been recorded worldwide while the global death toll exceeded 1.22 million, according to the data.

Argentina

COVID-19 vaccinations will be made "mandatory" and free of charge in Argentina for people over 18 years old, said the Ministry of Health's chief of staff on Wednesday.

Vaccinations will be made "mandatory" to protect both individual and collective interests, Lisandro Bonelli said in an interview on a local radio station.

People over 60 who have comorbidities, as well as essential healthcare workers and security personnel, will have "priority" for getting vaccinated before the rest of the population above the age of 18, he said.

So far, Argentina has reported more than 1,195,000 confirmed cases and 32,000 deaths.

Brazil

Brazil reported 23,976 fresh COVID-19 infections and 610 more deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The new figures took the South American country's tally to 5,590,025 cases and the official death toll to 161,106, according to ministry data, in the world's most fatal outbreak outside the United States.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria's health ministry on Thursday reported a record high of 4,054 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 64,591.

The previous record of 4,041 new cases was reported on Wednesday.

Deaths rose by 54 to 1,466, the ministry said.

It added that 3,191 patients were currently hospitalized, including 239 in intensive care, while the number of infected medical workers reached 2,664.

A resident wearing a face mask walks past a poster on COVID-19 safety guidelines outside a shop in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Nov 4, 2020. (LIANG SEN / XINHUA)

Canada

Canada saw an average of 3,150 new COVID-19 cases daily over the past seven days, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the country has recorded a total of 247,368 confirmed cases and 10,330 deaths, according to CTV.

Quebec reported 1,029 new cases, bringing the province's tally to 109,918 cases, while Ontario posted 987 fresh infections for a total of 79,692 cases in the province.

Chile

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said on Wednesday the country's health regulator had given the go-ahead for clinical trials of AstraZeneca PLC's COVID-19 vaccine.

Pinera said the AstraZeneca trial would follow one by America's Johnson & Johnson (J&J) that is already underway and another by China's Sinovac, whose first vaccine doses arrived in Chile on Wednesday.

Pinera said Chile had signed a purchase agreement with Pfizer Inc and Germany's BioNTech SE for 10 million doses of the vaccine they are jointly developing, and was working on similar agreements with AstraZeneca, J&J and Sinovac.

Pinera said Chile had also signed up "several weeks ago" to have access to 7.6 million vaccine doses through COVAX, an initiative led by the World Health Organization for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of eventual vaccines.

Chile's Ministry of Health on Wednesday reported 21 more deaths and 846 new cases, bringing the  toll to 14,340 and the tally to 515,042.

Colombia

Colombia's COVID-19 deaths climbed to 32,013 after 166 more fatalities were reported over the past day, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the tally rose to 1,108,084 after tests detected 8,692 new cases in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

Cyprus

Cyprus announced new restrictions on Wednesday to fight a resurgence of COVID-19 after a rise in cases in recent weeks.

A curfew on movement from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am will start on Thursday and remain in force until Nov. 30.

On Wednesday, the Mediterranean island reported 166 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 5,100. There have been 26 deaths.

"The daily increase in cases risks spiralling out of control, which other than posing a threat to life threatens the healthcare system, employment and our welfare in general," Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said in a statement.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic reported a record daily tally of new coronavirus cases on Thursday following several days of slowdowns in infections.

Czech laboratories identified 15,729 new coronavirus cases for Wednesday, Health Ministry data showed.

Total cases have risen to 378,716. The Health Ministry also reported 220 new deaths on Thursday, including 123 on Wednesday and revisions to previous days, to bring the total to 4,133.

Hospitalizations have risen by a third to 8,278 over the past week and the patients' average age grew, as hospitals scramble for personnel with a growing number of infections among doctors and nurses.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Wednesday the spike in cases looked to be easing. "On Friday, we will get crucial information... The health minister should be informing about the latest predictions," Babis said.

This Oct 9, 2020 file photo shows minks at a farm in Gjoel in North Jutland, Denmark. (MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN / RITZAU SCANPIX VIA AP)

Denmark

Denmark will cull its mink population of up to 17 million after a mutation of the coronavirus found in the animals spread to humans, the prime minister said on Wednesday.

Health authorities found virus strains in humans and in mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, potentially lowering the efficacy of future vaccines, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

Authorities in Denmark said five cases of the new virus strain had been recorded on mink farms and 12 cases in humans

The findings, which have been shared with the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, were based on laboratory tests by the State Serum Institute, the Danish authority dealing with infectious diseases.

Authorities in Denmark said five cases of the new virus strain had been recorded on mink farms and 12 cases in humans, and that there were 15 million and 17 million mink in the country.

Denmark's police, army and home guard will be deployed to speed up the culling process, Frederiksen said.

Tougher lockdown restrictions and intensified tracing efforts will be implemented to contain the virus in some areas of Northern Denmark, home to a large number of mink farms, authorities said.

ALSO READ: Dutch govt: 2nd case of mink transmitting virus to human

France

Paris will be placed under more restrictions to curb the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told BFM TV on Thursday.

Hidalgo said this would entail shutting down certain shops selling takeaway food and drink at 10 pm local time, which would come on top of the existing national lockdown.

France registered 40,558 new cases and 385 more deaths on Wednesday, pushing its tally to 1,543,321 and the death toll to 38,674, health ministry data showed.

The ministry said the number of new cases reported on Wednesday was a minimum number that could increase due to problems with data gathering.

Meanwhile, the number of people in intensive care rose to 4,089, the first time this tally was over 4,000 since April 30.  Hospitalizations increased by 1,269 to 27,534.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin came under fire in the press and on social media after several media reported that he went for a jog with his bodyguards on Sunday along the Roubaix canal well over a kilometer away from his home in Tourcoing in northern France.

According to government lockdown rules, people can only go out to take exercise within a kilometer of their homes. People can be fined 135 euros for breaking the rule.

Italy

Italy's latest restrictions to try to rein in the coronavirus include a partial lockdown of its richest and most populous region Lombardy around the financial capital Milan, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Wednesday.

Earlier, the government published its new package of measures which toughen up nationwide curbs and divide the country into three zones - red, orange and yellow, according to the intensity of the epidemic. Unlike Italy's national lockdown in the spring, all factories will remain open.

"Our intensive care capacity could be exhausted in a matter of weeks, we have to intervene," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at a news conference to illustrate the package which comes into effect on Friday.

Conte said the red zones would comprise the large northern regions of Lombardy and neighboring Piedmont, along with Calabria in Italy's southern toe and the tiny alpine region of Valle D'Aosta.

The orange regions are Puglia in Italy's heel and the island of Sicily.

The rest of the country's 20 regions, including Lazio around the capital Rome, will be yellow, meaning there are no restrictions other than those imposed nationwide.

Under the nationwide restrictions regardless of zoning, restaurants and bars must close at 6 pm, cinemas, restaurants, museums and gyms are all closed and shopping centers are closed at weekends.

Italy saw 352 COVID-related deaths on Wednesday, the health ministry reported earlier, while the daily tally stood at 30,550.

READ MORE: Virus: Hungary could run out of hospital beds by mid-Dec

Kenya

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced new measures on Wednesday in the face of a dramatic surge in COVID-19 cases.

The new measures include a 60 days ban on political gatherings, an extension of curfew hours, and greater uptake of remote learning and work, Kenyatta said.

According to the president, the unprecedented spike in positive cases and fatalities was due to people flouting anti-virus rules.

The positivity rate rose to an average of 16 percent from 4 percent in September, Kenyatta said.

He said that the 60 days ban on all political gatherings would be enforced with immediate effect while the nationwide night curfew, that is expected to last until Jan 3, would begin from 10.00 pm to 4.00 am local time while bars will close by 9.00 pm. Basic learning institutions will resume in-person lessons in January 2021.

Kenya posted a record 1,494 new cases on Wednesda, taking the tally to 58,587. Deaths rose by 12 to 1,051.

Lithuania

The Lithuanian government on Wednesday decided to introduce another nationwide lockdown from Saturday till Nov 29 due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the Baltic country.

Currently, 34 of Lithuania's 60 municipalities are in the "red zone" with high COVID-19 infection rates and 21 are under local quarantines, including its three biggest cities -- Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipeda.

The new restrictive measures include a prohibition for gathering in public places for groups of more than five people, except for family members. Mask wearing will become mandatory in public places.

In addition, cafes, bars and restaurants will only be allowed to provide takeaway or delivery food. Gyms, pools, SPA centers, museums, cinemas and theaters will be closed.

According to the Ministry of Health, Lithuania has so far reported a total of 18,092 confirmed cases, along with 182 deaths and 5,082 recoveries.

Mexico

Mexico's health ministry reported on Wednesday 5,225 new COVID-19 cases and 635 more deaths, bringing the official number of confirmed cases to 943,630 and the death toll to 93,228.

Morocco

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will loan Morocco US$118 million to strengthen the North African country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, official news agency MAP reported on Wednesday.

The loan will be directed to improve the health system by increasing the capacity of intensive care beds by 666 units to 1,350, according to the report.

In addition, 78 hospital emergency rooms will also be upgraded, providing Morocco with sufficient screening tests, pharmaceutical products and devices.

Morocco reported Wednesday 5,745 new COVID-19 cases, the highest one-day increase since the start of outbreak on March 2. In total, the country has had 235,310 cases. Deaths rose by 82 to 3,982.

Security members patrol streets to ensure that people are wearing masks, in Rabat, Morocco, on Nov 4, 2020. (CHADI / XINHUA)

Peru

Peru said Wednesday J&J and AstraZeneca laboratories would begin trials of COVID-19 vaccines in the country next week.

Poland

Poland reported a record 27,143 new COVID-19 infections and 367 deaths on Thursday, a day after it announced new restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The health ministry said that, as of Thursday, COVID-19 patients occupied 19,114 hospital beds and were using 1,615 ventilators, out of a total availability of 28,010 and 2,144 respectively.

Portugal

Portugal will extend the limit on returns for products bought in the leadup to Christmas to three months from 30 days in an attempt to prevent crowds around the holiday season and further coronavirus contagion, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.

This rule will be temporarily loosened this year as part of a wider package of measures designed to help stores increase sales and reduce crowds via incentives to extend their holiday promotion periods and shoppers to start buying gifts early.

Portugal reported 7,497 new cases of the coronavirus and 59 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the country's total cases and deaths to 156,940 and 2,694, respectively.

Russia

Russia reported 19,404 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, close to a record high that included 5,255 infections in Moscow and took the national tally to 1,712,858.

Authorities also reported 292 additional deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 29,509.

The Kremlin said the virus situation in the country was alarming, but that it was nonetheless still under control.

Earlier on Thursday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said secondary school children from classes 6-11 will continue to learn remotely for two more weeks until Nov 22 due to the pandemic.

"The coronavirus situation in Moscow began to get worse again at the start of this week, as we can see from the number of patients and hospitalisations," Sobyanin said on his website.

Rwanda

The Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) failed to realize its tax target for the fiscal year (FY) 2019/20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said on Wednesday.

Tax and non-tax revenue collected in FY 2019/20 was 1,516.3 billion Rwandan francs (US$1.55 billion), which is equivalent to 95.4 percent of the targeted 1,589 billion Rwandan francs (US$1.63 billion), RRA General Pascal Bizimana Ruganintwali said.

Tax collection by the local government fell short and achieved 90.8 percent of the target, said Ruganintwali.

Meanwhile, the health ministry on the same day reported 12 new cases, bringing the cumulative tally to 5,174, including 4,930 recoveries and 35 deaths.

Serbia

The head of Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej, and one of his bishops tested positive for the coronavirus days after holding service for another top cleric whose funeral in neighboring Montenegro drew crowds that ignored health warnings.

Patriarch Irinej, 90, has been hospitalized in Belgrade, the Serbian Orthodox Church said by email late Wednesday. Bishop Joanikije, another dignitary of the denomination, also tested positive.

Both attended the funeral on Sunday for Bishop Amfilohije, who died last week from COVID-19 in Montenegro. He was a prominent political figure whose support of opposition groups helped them defeat the long-ruling party of President Milo Djukanovic in August elections.

The virus has so far infected 53,495 people and killed 850 in Serbia, a country of 7.2 million.

Slovenia

Slovenia on Thursday reported 1,685 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 41,025.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients increased from 979 to 1,023 and 30 new deaths took the toll to 471 -- both new highs. The number of patients in intensive care rose by three to 161, a new record too.

The country conducted 5,991 coronavirus tests on Wednesday, 28.13 percent of which came back positive. This was a decrease of four percentage points from the previous day, government spokesperson Jelko Kacin pointed out, adding that this was a good sign.

Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning Andrej Vizjak tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, becaming the second member of the government to be infected after Foreign Minister Anze Logar, the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) reported on the same day.

The government's COVID-19 spokesperson, Jelko Kacin, said that the situation in hospitals is expected to remain very serious for at least one more month.

Spain

Spain's death toll from the coronavirus reached 38,118 after the Health Ministry revised its methodology for recording infections and fatalities, official data showed on Wednesday, up sharply from Tuesday's unrevised 36,495.

The tally of infections now stands at 1,284,408 cases, according to the latest data release, which removes double entries and adds some cases that were not initially diagnosed as COVID-19. On Tuesday, the ministry reported 1,259,366 cases.

Murcia on Wednesday joined several other regions including Catalonia in shutting down bars and restaurants, while the northern region of Cantabria banned citizens from traveling across municipal borders.

Health Minister Salvador Illa said at a news conference it would take two to three weeks for the latest regional restrictions to produce effect.

A signage on preventive measures against the coronavirus is seen in Blackpool, England, on Nov 4, 2020. (JON SUPER / AP)

UK

The timetable for delivery of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine candidate has slipped, the UK's vaccine chief said, adding Britain will receive just 4 million doses of the shot this year.

Britain had agreed in May to take 100 million doses of the vaccine, developed by Oxford University and licensed to AstraZeneca, with 30 million doses estimated for delivery by September 2020.

Oxford's trial chief said on Wednesday that he now hoped they would come by the end of the year, though the exact timing is unclear as it depends on infection numbers.

British lawmakers approved a monthlong lockdown in England, voting 516-38 on Wednesday in favor of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to try to prevent COVID-19 running out of control and overwhelming health services.

People will be ordered to stay at home from 0001 GMT on Thursday to combat a surge in new infections that could, if unchecked, cause more deaths than a first wave which forced a three-month lockdown earlier this year.

The United Kingdom recorded 492 more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, the biggest toll since May 13, raising the death toll to 47,742, government data showed. Another 25,177 new cases were also recorded.

Ukraine

Ukraine registered a record 9,850 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the health minister said on Thursday, up from a high of 9,524 reported a day earlier.

Total infections stood at 430,467 with 7,924 deaths by Thursday, Maksym Stepanov said.

The government does not plan to introduce a complete lockdown amid the growing number of infections in the country, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram on Wednesday.

Shmyhal said the government would introduce stricter regulations in the event of a further deterioration in the pandemic.

In this Nov 3, 2020 file photo, Salt Lake County Health Department public health nurses look on during coronavirus testing outside the department in Salt Lake City, Utah. (RICK BOWMER / AP)

US

The coronavirus pandemic continued to rage in the United States as Wisconsin reported record cases and said hospitals are at or near capacity. 

Daily infections reached a five-month high in New Jersey, and Texas had the most new cases since August.

According to a Reuters tally, the US set a one-day record for new cases on Wednesday with at least 102,591 new infections, a day after the US election. Besides Wisconsin, eight other states reported record daily tallies, including Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Washington.

The outbreak is hitting the Midwest the hardest, based on new cases per capita in recent weeks. 

In addition to rising cases, hospitalizations on Tuesday topped 50,000 for the first time in three months. North Dakota reported only six free intensive care unit beds in the entire state on Wednesday, when it was one of 14 states that reported record levels of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. 

COVID-19 deaths are trending higher but not at the same rate as cases. The United States is averaging 850 deaths a day, up from 700 a month ago, according to Reuters' estimate.

Meanwhile, the city of Denver in Colorado is considering tightening existing restrictions.

The previous US record for new cases in a day was 100,233 on Oct 30, the highest ever reported by any country in the world.

Sweden

Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has begun self-isolating after potentially being exposed to the coronavirus. Lofven said in a Facebook post that someone in his vicinity had been close to another person who had contracted Covid-19. Lofven and his wife Ulla have now chosen to isolate themselves on the advice of a doctor. “That is the only responsible thing to do in this situation,” said Lofven, who has no symptoms and is working remotely. The possible exposure of the prime minister comes as Swedes face a new wave of restrictions after daily coronavirus cases hit a record and the death toll once again begins to tick higher.

“The development is going in the wrong direction fast,” Lofven said. “More are infected. More die. This is a serious situation.”

So far, Sweden has registered a total of 137,730 confirmed cases with nearly 6,000 deaths.

Norway

Norwegians should avoid travelling within the Nordic country, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Thursday, as part of a fresh round of recommendations and restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

The number of cases has risen in many parts of Norway with last week’s number setting a new record in infections in a country which long had one of Europe’s lowest rate of infections.

The country recorded a revised 3,118 new COVID-19 cases last week, up from 1,718 the week before - both higher than the previous peak of 1,733 cases posted in the week March 16-22, according to data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI).

AstraZeneca

A summer dip in UK coronavirus infections has pushed back test results for AstraZenca’s potential COVID-19 vaccine, leading the drugmaker to delay deliveries of shots to the UK government.

Britain’s vaccines chief said on Wednesday it would receive just 4 million doses of the potential vaccine this year, against initial estimates for 30 million by Sept 30.

AstraZeneca said on Thursday it was holding back deliveries while it awaits the data from late-stage clinical trials in order to maximise the shelf-life of supplies.

It is keeping the vaccine frozen in large containers, and will only add a final ingredient, put it into vials and keep it at fridge temperature when the vaccine gets closer to approval.

“We are a little bit late in deliveries, which is why the vaccine has been kept in frozen form,” CEO Pascal Soriot said on a conference call.

However, he added AstraZeneca was “fully” prepared to launch the vaccine when it is ready, adding the company’s weekly delivery schedule should roughly match what the UK government has in mind for its vaccination plans.

AstraZeneca and its partner on the project, the University of Oxford, said data from late-stage trials should land this year. If successful, the pair will file for emergency approvals in as many countries as possible at the same time, Soriot said.

Georgia 

Georgia reported 2,401 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the national total to 49,218, authorities said.

Among the new cases, 976 were confirmed in the capital city of Tbilisi, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health said.

As of Thursday, 33,459 patients of the disease have recovered, while 401 others have died, said the center.

Austria 

Daily coronavirus cases in Austria topped 7,000 for the first time on Thursday since the pandemic began, according to data published by the country's Interior Ministry.

Compared with Wednesday's 6,211, which was a new high for the Alpine country, the daily caseload has jumped by over 1,000, reaching 7,416.

In addition, 41 more patients have succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll to 1,268.

So far, there have been 132,515 positive COVID-19 test results, and 80,604 patients have recovered.

Currently, 2,737 people are in hospitals for coronavirus treatment, 407 of them in intensive care units, data showed.