Russian police officers wearing protective face masks patrol in downtown Moscow on Nov 11, 2020, amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. (PHOTO / AFP)

PARIS / LONDON / NEW YORK / SAO PAULO / MEXICO CITY / BERLIN / CAIRO / MOSCOW / BUDAPEST / GENEVA / DUBLIN - A facility set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI vaccine group has exceeded an interim target of raising more than US$2 billion to buy and distribute COVID-19 shots for poorer countries, but said it still needs more.

The GAVI alliance said on Friday that the funds for an advance market commitment (AMC) will allow the COVAX facility to buy an initial one billion vaccine doses for 92 eligible countries which would not otherwise be able to afford them.

“We’ve seen sovereign and private donors from across the world dig deep and meet this target and help ensure that every country will get access to COVID vaccines, not just the wealthy few,” GAVI chief Seth Berkley told reporters, adding that there was an “urgent need” to also finance treatments and diagnostics.

The European Commission, France, Spain, South Korea, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others had in recent weeks pledged another US$360 million to the AMC, the alliance said, bringing total funding over the US$2 billion target for this year.

Another US$5 billion will be needed in 2021 to procure COVID-19 vaccine doses as they come through development and are approved by regulators, GAVI said in a statement.

Russia

Russia reported a record 21,983 new coronavirus infections on Friday as Moscow prepared to close restaurants and bars overnight in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite a recent surge, Russian authorities have resisted imposing lockdown restrictions as they did earlier this year, stressing instead the importance of hygiene, social distancing and bringing in targeted measures in certain regions. 

Moscow, which reported 5,974 new cases in the past 24 hours, has ordered bars, restaurants and nightclubs to close between 11 pm and 6 am from Friday until mid-January. 

Officials warned of raids and fines for establishments that do not comply. The sprawling city of nearly 13 million has also moved university and college students to online learning, while it was recommended that school children, already learning from home, keep their travel to a minimum. 

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said he hoped Moscow would not have to impose any additional restrictions, but that it could do so if the situation worsened. Russia's coronavirus taskforce on Friday reported 411 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, raising the official death toll to 32,443.

Global tally

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide topped 52.5 million while the toll has topped 1.29 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

WHO

A facility set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI vaccine group to buy and distribute COVID-19 shots for poorer countries has exceeded an interim target of raising more than US$2 billion. 

The GAVI alliance said on Friday that the funds for a so-called advance market commitment (AMC) will allow it to buy an initial one billion vaccine doses for 92 eligible countries. 

Another US$5 billion is needed in 2021, however, to procure COVID-19 vaccine doses as they come through development and are approved by regulators, it said in a statement. Contributions so far have come from donors including states, the private sector and philanthropic sources, GAVI said.

UK Study

Black and Asian people are significantly more likely to be infected with coronavirus than white people, a major British study showed Thursday.

Black people are twice as likely to contract coronavirus as white people, and people from Asian backgrounds are one and a half times as likely, researchers at the universities of Leicester and Nottingham found after analyzing 50 studies in Britain and the United States that involved nearly 19 million coronavirus patients.

The disproportionate impact of coronavirus on different social groups are believed to be attributed to various factors, such as greater levels of deprivation, living in larger, multi-generational households, and having more public-facing jobs where working from home is not an option, The Guardian newspaper reported.

Manish Pareek, an associate clinical professor in infectious diseases at the University of Leicester, said the findings showed an urgent need for more targeted public support for these groups.

"It's about trying to make sure interventions are available early on, so people can seek advice and care at early time points," Pareek was quoted as saying.

The study, published in the journal EClinicalMedicine, is the first comprehensive review of published research and preliminary papers that focus on the impact of coronavirus on different ethnic groups.

US

California surpassed 1 million cases of the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The state, home to about 40 million residents, trails only Texas in reaching the grim milestone.

California was home to one of the earliest outbreaks of COVID-19 and the first to enact a statewide lockdown in March, only to see infections soar in the summer. Like the rest of the US, it’s seeing a virus resurgence after an autumn lull, with its 14-day average of new cases climbing 76 percent in the past month.

Almost a third of California’s cases are in Los Angeles County, the most populous. The state has had more than 18,000 fatalities from the virus, behind only New York and Texas.

New York State saw nearly 10,000 new coronavirus cases over two days and Governor Andrew Cuomo urged people to “buckle down.”

A member of Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force said Thursday she doesn’t view a nationwide lock down as necessary. Céline Gounder’s comments backed away from comments by epidemiologist Michael Osterholm a day earlier.

The American Clinical Laboratory Association, which represents large laboratories such as Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings and Quest Diagnostics Inc, warned that surging demand for COVID-19 tests could push some labs to or beyond capacity, delaying test results.

UK

The estimated reproduction “R” number of COVID-19 in Britain has fallen to 1.0-1.2 and might be below 1 in some parts of the country, the Government Office for Science said on Friday, a sign that the spread of the disease is slowing.

That means that every 10 people infected with COVID-19 will, on average, pass it on to 10 to 12 people more. The estimated R number last week was 1.1-1.3.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has introduced a lockdown in England, which came into force last week, in an effort to bring the R number down, and administrations in Scotland and Wales are tackling the epidemic with their own measures.

An R number below 1 is an indication that the epidemic is shrinking. In northwest England, the estimated R number was 0.9-1.1 and it may be below 1 in Scotland and Wales too.

Britain's transport minister said he would be making an announcement on changes to the country's 14-day quarantine rule for travellers into the country "very soon", giving hope to airlines desperate for travel to restart.

The proportion of contacts of positive COVID-19 cases reached by England's test and trace system remains nears record lows, official figures showed on Thursday, although a growing number of infected people are being processed by the scheme. 

The scheme reported that around 60 percent of contacts of positive cases were reached in the latest week. That is the same proportion it has reached each week for the last month, and far short of an 80 percent target.

The United Kingdom reported 33,470 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the highest daily total to date, as the government struggles to control a second wave of infections. 

The government also reported 563 new deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test, down slightly from 595 the previous day.

Medical workers put on personal protective equipment (PPE) before starting shifts at a COVID -19 drive-thru testing site in El Paso, Texas, US, Nov 9, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic reported 7,874 new coronavirus cases for Nov. 12, Health Ministry data showed on Friday, extending a decline in new infections as the country seeks to push down Europe's highest per-capita infection rate. 

Thursday's tally was 5,358 lower than the same day a week ago and brought the total number of coronavirus infections in the country of 10.7 million to 446,675. 

Deaths rose by 185, which included 91 on Thursday and revisions to previous days.

Ireland

Ireland may take a staged approach to removing COVID-19 curbs from Dec. 1 with the aim of a further easing in the run up to Christmas to allow families to celebrate in a “meaningful way”, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Friday.

Martin said the government would also issue advice on international travel for the Christmas period by the end of the month after his deputy, Leo Varadkar, urged people on Thursday not to book flights home yet.

Georgia 

Georgia reported 3,473 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing its total to 73,154.

A total of 1,493 of the 3,473 new cases were reported in the capital city of Tbilisi, said the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health.

As of Friday, 55,511 patients have recovered, while 636 others have died, said the center.

Serbia 

Serbia has introduced hefty fines for failure to wear face masks or maintain social distancing in public in efforts to rein in a major spike in coronavirus infections. 

Parliament, meeting on Thursday evening, paved the way for tougher measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by amending legislation meant to combat contagious diseases. 

Under the amendments, anyone not wearing a face mask or failing to maintain distance in indoor or outdoor public spaces face fines of 5,000 dinars (US$50.29), a hefty penalty in a country where the average monthly take-home pay is US$570. 

Companies, restaurants and shops that fail to comply with sanitary rules imposed by the government, including keeping distance between employees or customers or wearing of face masks, could face fines of 50,000-300,000 dinars.

Germany

German Health Minister Jens Spahn cooled optimism about a potential easing of restrictions next month, saying that infection numbers haven’t come down enough.

 He also said that the government had never promised that life would be back to normal in December. 

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of Germany's states are due to meet on Monday to review whether partial lockdown measures imposed on Nov. 2 have been enough to slow a steep rise in new infections that risks overwhelming hospitals. 

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased  by 23,542 to 751,095, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday. The reported death toll rose by 218 to 12,200, the tally showed.

Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vowed on Friday to fight for every single life during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the cases in his country topped 130,000.

On Friday, Hungary registered 5,097 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 131,887, according to the government's coronavirus information website.

In the past 24 hours, 99 people have died, taking the death toll to 2,883 in the country, while 29,802 have recovered. Currently, 6,690 patients are being treated in hospitals, 518 of them are on ventilators.

Austria

Austria will likely close schools and tighten contact restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, news website OE24 reported on Friday. 

The government is due to hold a news conference to present the new measures on Saturday, it added. It also said the retail sector would largely remain open, except for shopping centres where large crowds could gather.

People in vehicles wait in line to enter a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Nov 9. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

French

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said there would be no easing for at least two weeks of the country's second COVID-19 lockdown, with the number of people in hospital with coronavirus now higher than at the peak of the first wave. 

As officials across Europe warned against COVID-19 complacency following this week's announcement by Pfizer of a potentially effective vaccine, Castex said his government intended to intensify policing of the lockdown in Paris.

One out of four deaths in France is currently due to the new coronavirus, Castex said on Thursday.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in France reached 32,683, topping the peak reported in April, though some indicators signal that curfew and lockdown measures are starting to slow the virus spread. 

The positive-test ratio fell to 18.7 percent, almost 2 percentage points less than six days ago.

Confirmed new cases rose by 33,172 to 1.9 million, health authorities said. It’s “certainly not the moment to loosen the reins,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said in a Le Monde interview.

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Portugal 

Portugal is extending restrictions on Monday, adding 70 municipalities to a list where people’s movement are limited, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said. 

New cases remained at less than a record of 6,640 reported on Saturday and the number of intensive-care patients fell by eight to 383.

Italy

Italy has registered 37,978 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday, up from 32,961 on Wednesday. 

The ministry also reported 636 virus-related deaths, up from 623 the day before and the highest figure since April 6. Infections in Italy since the disease first came to light in February total 1.066 million, while 43,589 people have now died because of the coronavirus. 

There were 234,672 coronavirus swabs carried out in the past day, the ministry said, against a previous 225,640.

Greece

Greece on Thursday reported 3,316 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily tally since its first infection surfaced in February, according to health authorities data. 

The latest jump in infections brings the total number of cases in the country to 66,637. It also registered 50 deaths, bringing the number of victims since the onset of the virus to 959.

Ukraine

Ukraine registered a record 11,787 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, its health minister said on Friday, up from a high of 11,057 reported on Nov. 12. Maksym Stepanov said the new cases had taken the total confirmed infections to 512,652, with 9,317 deaths.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the nation in two videos on Thursday, his first appearance since being hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19 this week. 

Sitting in a chair in front of a Ukrainian flag, Zelenskiy said he felt good and the government was working as normal. He also spoke about his administration's standoff with the Constitutional Court over anti-corruption reforms.

Canada

Quebec’s Medicago, owned by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma and Philip Morris, said on Thursday its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, developed with limited government funding, would go into late-stage trials before the end of the year, cementing its lead in the race for a Canadian-made vaccine.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Canada reached 280,002 as of Thursday noon, according to CTV.

CTV also reported a total of 10,745 deaths as of Thursday.

The latest national-level data indicated daily averages of 4,015 new cases (Nov. 4-10) and 54,668 people tested, with 5.8 percent positive rate (Nov. 1-7), according to the Public Health Agency of Canada on Thursday.

New COVID-19 cases continue to surge in Ontario. It reported 1,575 new cases and 43 deaths, raising the confirmed case total to 89,784, including 3,293 deaths in the province.

Thursday's report marked the third straight day in which the province has reported record-breaking case numbers.

The new COVID-19 projections in October showed that Ontario would see roughly 800 cases per day through November.

ALSO READ: EU seals deal for supply of 300m Pfizer-BioNTech virus shots

Albania

The World Health Organization (WHO) will provide Albania with 200,000 fast COVID-19 tests, Director of WHO Regional Office for Europe Hans Kluge said here on Thursday.

At a joint press conference with Albanian Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu, Kluge said that the fast tests will be sent to Albania after five to eight weeks.

Kluge said that testing alone is not a "magical" solution to prevent COVID-19 infections, but it takes other important steps, such as tracking and isolation.

Kluge praised the measures taken by the Albanian government to cope with the situation caused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Residents wait for donated food from a campaign organized by state-run oil company Petrobras workers and the oil workers union, amid the new coronavirus pandemic, in the Vila Vintem favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct 16, 2020. (PHOTO / AP)

Brazil

The head of Pfizer Inc in Brazil said on Thursday the drugmaker is negotiating with the South American nation to supply its potential COVID-19 vaccine in the first quarter of 2021. 

"We are working strongly with the Brazilian government to try to fast-track the availability (of the vaccine) in Brazil as fast as possible," Carlos Murillo said during an online event. 

In Brazil, some 3,100 people are participating in a late-stage clinical trial of the experimental vaccine Pfizer is developing with German partner BioNTech.

Mexico

Mexico's health ministry reported on Thursday 5,658 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the country and 626 deaths, bringing the official totals to 991,835 cases and 97,056 dead. Health officials have previously said that the real number of cases is likely significantly higher than that.

Africa

The number of confirmed cases in the African continent has reached 1,917,960, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.

The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the death toll related to the pandemic stood at 46,272 as of Thursday afternoon.

A total of 1,622,252 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far, according to the continental disease control and prevention agency.

The most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Ethiopia, figures from the Africa CDC showed.

Morocco 

Morocco reported on Thursday 6,195 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily spike since the start of outbreak in the country on March 2.

Morocco now has a total of 276,821 coronavirus cases, and 4,570 people have died from the virus, including 64 new deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the new data published by its health ministry.

The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 226,040 after 4,297 new ones were added, while 967 patients are in intensive care units, the ministry said.

Egypt

Egypt confirmed on Thursday late night 214 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total cases registered in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic to 110,095, said the Egyptian Health Ministry. 

Meanwhile, 12 patients died from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll in the country to 6,417, while 98 others completely recovered, increasing the total recoveries to 100,760, the ministry's spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement. 

Total COVID-19 recoveries in Egypt currently amount to 91.5 percent of the total cases registered in the most populous Arab country. Over the past nine days, COVID-19 daily infections in Egypt started to exceed 200, after they have been below 200 since Sept. 1.