An illustration picture shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes with the logo of British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on Nov 17, 2020. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

TRIPOLI / SANTIAGO / MEXICO CITY / BOGOTA / BERLIN / LONDON / PARIS / TUNIS / VILNIUS / MADRID / WINNIPEG / GENEVA / PANAMA CITY / KHARTOUM / CAPE TOWN / BRASILIA / ROME / OTTAWA / MOSCOW / WASHINGTON / BUCHAREST / ADDIS ABABA / KIEV / HELSINKI / STOCKHOLM / WARSAW / BUDAPEST / MINSK - AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford, among the front-runners in the quest to deliver a Covid-19 vaccine, face mounting questions about their trial results after acknowledging a manufacturing error.

While an announcement Monday by Astra and Oxford showed their shot was 70 percent effective on average in a late-stage study, the scant details released by the UK partners have sparked worries about whether regulators would clear it. In a later statement, Oxford said a difference in manufacturing processes led to some participants being given a half dose instead of a full one.

Astra and Oxford said their vaccine was 90 percent effective when a half-dose was given before a full-dose booster, and that two full doses showed an efficacy of 62 percent. But the head of the US vaccine program known as Operation Warp Speed said the next day that the dose showing the higher level of effectiveness was tested in a younger population, and that the half-dose was given to some people because of an error in the quantity of vaccine put into some vials. None of this was disclosed in Astra’s original statement.

Global tally

Coronavirus cases surpassed 60 million on Wednesday while the global death toll topped 1.41 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Fall in HIV, TB tests

Testing for HIV and tuberculosis has fallen in Eastern Europe and Central Asia during the coronavirus pandemic and could lead to higher mortality rates, said Michel Kazatchkine, UN special advisor to the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, on Wednesday.

In the first half of 2020, Russia's Federal AIDS Center reported 38,126 new HIV infections, some 20.5 percent fewer than in the first six months of 2019.

Kazatchkine said there had been a 48 percent drop in the number of tuberculosis cases in the region reported to the WHO in May this year compared to last year.

"This is due to the limited movement of people during COVID lockdowns and quarantines," he said. "But it is also linked to the fact that many staff persons working in TB and TB hospitals and facilities have been reprofiled to become COVID hospitals and facilities."

He said a decrease of over 30 percent in newly reported cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was very worrying.

Medical workers test COVID-19 samples at a laboratory in Rabat, Morocco, on Nov 25, 2020. (CHADI / XINHUA)

Africa

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African continent has reached 2,106,931, 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 50,628 as of Thursday afternoon.

A total of 1,781,744 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far, according to the 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.

The southern Africa region is the most COVID-19 affected region both in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases as well as the number of deaths, it was noted.

The northern Africa region is the second most COVID-19-affected African region, according to the Africa CDC.

South Africa currently has the most COVID-19 cases, which hit 775,502. The country also has the highest number of deaths related to COVID-19, at 21,201.

Morocco comes next with 336,506 confirmed cases and 5,539 deaths, followed by Egypt with 114,107 confirmed cases and 6,585 deaths, Africa CDC said. 

Health ministers from the sub-Saharan African region on Wednesday urged enhanced vigilance to curb the transmission of COVID-19 in the continent.

The ministers said that robust surveillance, combined with political goodwill, research and information sharing, was key to minimizing the impact of the disease on the continent's healthcare systems.

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said that enhanced vigilance was urgent amid risk of a surge in new infections during the holiday season.

Belarus

Belarus reported 1,563 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking its total to 130,012, the country's health ministry said.

There have been 1,317 new recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing its total to 108,769, the ministry added.

So far, 1,128 people have died of the disease in the country, including nine over the past 24 hours, it said.

As of Thursday, 3,158,352 tests for the virus have been conducted across the country, including 35,174 over the past 24 hours, according to official figures. 

Brazil

Sao Paulo, Brazil’s richest and most populous state, is considering whether to reimpose more severe restrictions on the movement of people should a recent increase in COVID-19 cases persist, according to Governor Joao Doria.

Part of the state, including its capital, is under the least restrictive phase of the quarantine, and a decision about the measures in place is due to be announced on Monday. 

Brazil, which has the world’s second-most deaths and third-most cases, was among the last places to get hit by the first wave of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, the country registered 47,898 new cases and 654 additional deaths, the health ministry said Thursday.

Sao Paulo, with a population of 46 million people, accounts for roughly 20 percent of the nation’s 6.2 million cases. One in four Brazilians who have died from the disease were Sao Paulo residents.

Health experts say the rate of new infections accelerated following an increase in public gatherings. Parties of younger people are especially concerning, Doria said.

People arrive at a pop-up COVID-19 testing site on the Dalhousie University campus in Halifax, Canada, on Nov 25 2020. (ANDREW VAUGHAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP)

Canada

Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam urged Canadians once again on Wednesday to avoid non-essential outings as COVID-19 cases continued to rise across the country.

The country reported a total of 346,728 COVID-19 cases and 11,697 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon, according to CTV.

The province of Saskatchewan on Wednesday said stores of larger than 20,000 square feet must reduce customer access to 50 percent capacity, restaurants and bars must limit seating to four per table and casinos, theaters and arenas must limit attendance to 30 people, effective on Friday. Students and staff are also required to wear masks in schools.

Separately, Ontario urged its residents to restrict Christmas gatherings to members of their households as the province became the latest to unveil Christmas guidelines.

Manitoba is planning for a Christmas without group gatherings in the province, while Quebec will allow its people to gather in groups of up to 10 between Dec 24 and 27 as long as they quarantine a week before and after. 

Chile

Chile on Wednesday again reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases, as 1,004 fresh infections were recorded in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 544,092.

In the same period, seven more deaths were logged, raising the toll to 15,138, according to the Health Ministry.

Colombia

Colombia's government will extend its health state of emergency by three months, President Ivan Duque said on Wednesday, as he urged people to avoid crowds and keep up safety measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Andean country has had over 1.27 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and nearly 36,000 deaths. Active cases number 57,260.

Most economic activities are now allowed, as are international flights, but face masks are required in public. Concerts and other large events are banned.

"The sanitary emergency will extend until February 28, 2021," Duque said on his nightly television program. "We will extend this process for 90 days and we're doing it to maintain control (and) detailed monitoring."

Denmark

Millions of dead mink thrown into mass graves have resurfaced in Denmark, triggering a new wave of finger pointing over how the country is handling the crisis.

The animals, which were culled earlier this month after Denmark found a mutation of the coronavirus in mink that could spread to humans and hamper vaccine efforts, have since started to rot. The gas in their bodies is now causing the mink to rise to the surface, fanning contamination fears.

The development marks the latest embarrassment for Denmark’s government, which was slammed by parliament for failing to consult the legislature before ordering farmers to cull their mink. The minister in charge has since been forced to resign, but Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen still faces questions about her handling of the case.

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Finland

Finland's COVID-19 situation has "worsened rapidly" in recent days, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Thursday, though she added that the government had decided it did not yet have the grounds to adopt emergency measures as it did in March.

New cases are on the rise in around half of the country, with two regions out of 21 more severely affected, health authorities said.

"In my opinion, we should not rule out any measures," Marin told reporters, referring to the possibility of resorting to a national state of emergency again.

In the worst hit region around the capital Helsinki, the number of new cases rose by nearly 70 percent last week from the week before, the region's Chief Medical Officer Markku Makijarvi said.

The region will ban all public meetings both indoors and outdoors and send pupils and students of more than 15 years old home to remote learning, among other measures, local health authorities said.

France

French Health Minister Oliver Veran confirmed on Thursday France could start rolling out COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the year, stressing the need for authorities to be transparent about the process given French citizens’ high level of scepticism towards vaccinations.

During a news conference detailing how France’s second national lockdown is about to be gradually unwound, Veran said the logistical aspects of the vaccination program will be detailed next week.

France could return to some sort of post-coronavirus normal in about a year if as many as 80 percent to 90 percent of its population are vaccinated against the disease, Arnaud Fontanet, a leading epidemiologist, said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Jean Castex might shed a light on how the vaccination program will be rolled out during a press conference scheduled for later on Thursday, when he will detail how France will gradually unwind its second national lockdown.

France reported a fresh surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours with a further 16,282 fresh infections, up sharply from the 9,155 new cases recorded on Tuesday and taking the tally to 2,170,097.

The death toll rose to 50,618 - up by more than 380 from the previous day. 

There were a total of 29,972 patients in hospital with COVID-19, and 4,148 in intensive care units.

Germany

Germany will probably have to stick with measures to dampen the coronavirus pandemic into January, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, while her chief of staff suggested that restrictions might be needed until March.

"Given the high number of infections, we assume that the restrictions which are in place before Christmas will continue to be valid until the start of January, certainly for most parts of Germany," Merkel told parliament.

Coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 22,268 to 983,588 while deaths rose by 389 to 15,160, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, there were 32,687 new infections, lifting the tally to 995,879. The number of fatalities rose by 378, the most since mid-April, to 15,210.

Merkel agreed with leaders of the country's 16 federal states to extend and tighten anti-virus measures until Dec 20, but ease rules over the Christmas holidays to let families and friends celebrate together.

"This is absolutely not the time to sound the all-clear," she told journalists, after the number of deaths from COVID-19 reached a daily record Wednesday. 

From Dec 1, private gatherings will be limited to five people. Over Christmas, that number will rise to 10, not counting children, though Wednesday's decisions included an appeal to avoid social contact for a week ahead of family visits.

Germany will also make mask-wearing obligatory in all pedestrian high-traffic areas as well as in city centers.

Berlin's mayor said a quarter of the German capital's intensive care beds were currently filled with COVID-19 patients, most of whom were on ventilators to help them breathe.

Hungary

Hungary plans no further restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas said on Thursday, even as health officials reported a steady rise in new cases and the number of deaths.

Gulyas said at a press briefing that the government would look at infections data next week again to review its decisions.

Italy

Italy reported 722 COVID 19-related deaths on Wednesday and 25,853 new infections, the health ministry said.

Italy has seen 52,028 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain's. It has also registered 1.48 million cases.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 34,313 on Wednesday, a decline of 264 from the day before. The number in intensive care rose by 32 to 3,848.

The northern region of Lombardy remained the hardest hit area on Wednesday, reporting 5,173 new cases.

Libya

The National Center for Disease Control of Libya on Wednesday reported 617 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally to 79,797.

The center said in a statement 10 more patients have died, raising the death toll to 1,125, while the number of recoveries rose by to 50,914.

Badraddin Al-Najjar, director of the center, said the pandemic situation in the country was "getting worse" as cases were rising every day in the country, according to Libyan News Agency. Al-Najjar stressed the need to resort to a full lockdown in case the situation worsens.

The first two weeks of November saw a 22-percent increase in infections, with Libya's biggest cities - Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi - witnessing the largest spike, according to Stephanie Williams, acting special representative of the UN Secretary General in Libya.

"With limited testing capacity and poor mortality surveillance, the numbers are a fraction of what health experts suspect to be the true scale of the problem," she told the UN Security Council recently.

Lithuania

Lithuania reported 2,289 COVID-19 cases in the past day, bringing the national total to 51,655, data from the health ministry showed on Wednesday.

So far, 432 people have died and 12,282 have recovered in the country, according to the ministry.

Also on Wednesday, the government decided to extend nationwide lockdown until Dec 17, along with new measures.  

Mexico

Mexico City has launched a test-and-trace approach to containing the coronavirus following a rise in hospitalizations.

The capital is proposing to double the number of daily coronavirus tests to 10,000 by adding rapid testing at pop-up sites in highly populated areas, health centers and at sports stadiums including the legendary Azteca Stadium.

The local government has established a new contract tracing program using QR codes, which registers the phone numbers of customers at stores and restaurants so they can be contacted in the event that they have contact with an infected person.

In a statement to Reuters, the Mexico City Health Department said the testing would continue until the infection curve was flattened.

Since the QR code program was launched six days ago, 11,439 people have been notified that they were in contact with a positive case, according to Mexico City government data.

Mexico's health ministry on Wednesday reported 10,335 additional cases of the novel coronavirus and 858 more deaths in the country, bringing the official number of infections to 1,070,487 and the death toll to 103,597.

Moldova

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Moldova reached 101,203 on Wednesday, after 1,570 new infections were registered in the past 24 hours.

Of the new cases, 96 involved healthcare workers, Constantin Rymish, state secretary at the Health, Labor and Social Protection Ministry, said at a press conference.

To date, 10,006 medical workers had been infected, or one-tenth of the total infections registered in the country of 3.5 million people.

Another 21 fatalities registered in the past 24 hours pushed the death toll to 2,209, the ministry said.

Netherlands

Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands are preparing for a potential "human challenge" trial in which volunteers are deliberately infected with the new coronavirus to test the effectiveness of vaccine candidates, advocacy group 1Day Sooner said on Wednesday.

The plan has already attracted 240 volunteers, the US-based group said. 

In September, the group said such trials are expected to begin in January at a quarantine facility in London.

Panama

Panama's government said on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech to purchase 3 million COVID-19 vaccine  doses.

The vaccine doses will be distributed during 2021 pending clinical success and local regulatory approval, the government said.

Poland

Poland is introducing a new program to help the economy withstand the hit from the coronavirus pandemic worth 35 billion to 40 billion zlotys (US$9.33 billion to US$10.67 billion), Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday.

Russia

Russia reported a record high of 25,487 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the national tally to 2,187,990.

Authorities also reported a record high of 524 deaths related to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 38,062.

READ MORE: Russia virus deaths hit new record as disease ravages regions

Earlier Thursday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin extended a recommended self-isolation period for residents older than 65 and those in COVID-19 risk groups through New Year until Jan 15 as a precaution against the pandemic.

Sobyanin also said at least that 30 percent of staff at companies in the capital who had already been told to work remotely as a precaution should continue to do so until Jan 15.

South Africa

South Africa's Western Cape province, home to tourist hub Cape Town, is experiencing a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, its premier said on Wednesday after new cases jumped 52.1 percent in the past week.

Issuing a hotspot alert for the City of Cape Town's metro of around 4.5 million people, Premier Alan Winde said a resurgence occurred when the number of active cases increased week-on-week by more than 20 percent.

Winde said that since the start of November, COVID-19 hospitalizations across the province have increased by 63 percent. As of Wednesday, there were 962 hospitalizations in the province, with 183 patients in intensive care units, Winde said. The total number of infections had reached 126,362.

South African hospital operators have warned of a potential surge in coronavirus cases during the December holiday season, when millions of people travel to holiday destinations, home towns and villages. 

The country has recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections on the African continent, with more than 760,000 confirmed cases and more than 20,000 deaths.

Spain

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday that his government was considering limiting Christmas celebrations to six people in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The central government is still negotiating the next round of restrictions with regional authorities, meaning some changes could be introduced.

Following a summit of regional health chiefs, Health Minister Salvador Illa said the talks were progressing well but that no agreement had yet been reached.

Some regional health chiefs, including in Catalonia and Madrid, are advocating for a less stringent limit of 10 people for holiday gatherings.

The health ministry recorded 10,222 new cases on Wednesday, while the death toll rose by 369 to 44,037, slowing from the previous day's jump of 537.

The country has recorded over 1.6 million cases, the second highest tally in western Europe after France.

Sudan

Leading Sudanese politician and former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi died from a coronavirus infection three weeks after being hospitalized in the United Arab Emirates, according to family sources and a party statement early on Thursday. 

Mahdi, 84, was Sudan's last democratically elected prime minister and was overthrown in 1989 in the military coup that bought former president Omar al-Bashir to power.

Last month, al-Mahdi's family said he had tested positive for COVID-19, and was transferred to the UAE for treatment a few days later following a brief hospitalization in Sudan.

Sudan's transitional administration declared three days of mourning. Mahdi's Umma Party said in a statement the former PM would be buried on Friday morning in the city of Omdurman in Sudan.

Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and Princess Sofia leave the christening of Prince Oscar (not in frame) at the Royal Chapel in Stockholm, Sweden, on May 27, 2016. (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP)

Sweden

Sweden's Prince Carl Philip and his wife Princess Sofia have tested positive for COVID-19, the Swedish royal court said on Thursday.

The two are feeling well under the circumstances, the court said in a statement, adding that King Karl XIV Gustaf, Queen Silvia, the prince's older sister Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel would be tested during the day.

Carl Philip is fourth in the line of succession to the Swedish throne.

Swedish confidence in the nation’s strategy to fight the pandemic has slumped, with concerns over capacity in the healthcare system now almost universal.

A poll by DN/Ipsos published on Thursday showed that 82 percent of Swedes are either “somewhat” or “very worried” as to whether their healthcare system can meet the challenge facing it. Meanwhile, 44 percent of Swedes fear authorities aren’t doing enough to fight the virus, compared with 31 percent last month.

Tunisia

Tunisian Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi announced on Wednesday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Tunisia has exceeded 90,000 including 2,935 deaths.

"The coronavirus vaccines will be provided free of charge to Tunisians," the health official assured, adding that the goal will be to vaccinate 20 percent of the population, in a first phase, during the second quarter of next year.

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Uganda

Uganda has adopted the Village Health Team (VHT) strategy as a new battlefront to quell the resurgence of coronavirus in the country, said the health ministry.

Under the VHT strategy, community members who have basic knowledge about healthcare go door to door to check on the health condition of local households. Once suspicious COVID-19 cases are detected, they will be sent to the nearest health center for further examination. The VHT members will also educate household members to follow social distancing rules and health tips to avoid contracting COVID.

Uganda registered 484 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the national caseload to 18,890. Meanwhile, five new related deaths were reported across the country, taking the nationwide death toll to 191, according to data of the health ministry.

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven up Uganda’s poverty rate to 28 percent from 18 percent pre-COVID-19, New Vision newspaper reports, citing a Finance Ministry official. 

More than 3 million Ugandans have slipped into poverty since the outbreak began, according to the report.

UK

The United Kingdom recorded 18,213 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday and another 696 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the virus, according to official data.

The deaths figure was the highest since May 5.

The figures came as some scientists warned that the British government's plan to relax coronavirus restrictions over Christmas risk "throwing fuel on the COVID fire."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold a news conference on Thursday to explain local COVID-19 restrictions, emerging from self isolation two weeks after attending meeting with an infected lawmaker.

The prime minister tested negative for COVID-19 and said he is as fit as butcher's dog.

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Ukraine

Ukraine registered a record 15,331 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on Thursday, up from a previous record of 14,580 reported on Nov 21.

He said the total number of cases had climbed to 677,189 with 11,717 deaths.

US

Several federal agencies have recommended that the White House lift an entry ban on non-US citizens arriving from Europe put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The organizations, which participate in the White House Coronavirus Task Force, have signed off on lifting the restrictions, said two people who were briefed on the discussions. The limits have helped lead to a more than 90 percent reduction in the lucrative trans-Atlantic flight market.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday reported 12,498,734 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 165,282 from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 1,989 to 259,005.

California and Texas broke daily records for infections, while an outbreak is accelerating in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions. 

More than 88,000 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals across the US as of Tuesday, reaching a new all-time high for the 15th consecutive day, according to the COVID Tracking Project. A growing number of US hospitals have canceled or delayed some planned medical procedures to preserve staff and beds. 

COVID-19 has killed more than 100,000 residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the US, according to a report Wednesday from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on health issues. Deaths in long-term care facilities have accounted for 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths nationwide, according to the report.

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Meanwhile, a US Supreme Court blocked New York Governor Andrew Cuomo from reimposing strict capacity limits on a group of New York City synagogues and Roman Catholic churches, saying rules he issued amid a new COVID-19 wave unfairly single out houses of worship.

WHO

All adults should do a minimum of 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, even more vital for well-being and mental health in the COVID-19 era, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday in its first guidance in a decade.

It recommended that children and adolescents have an average of one hour of daily physical exercise and limit time in front of electronic screens.

One in four adults and a "staggering" four out of five adolescents do not get enough physical activity, which can include walking, cycling, gardening and cleaning, the WHO noted

One in four adults and a "staggering" four out of five adolescents do not get enough physical activity, which can include walking, cycling, gardening and cleaning, the WHO said, as it launched its "Every Move Counts" campaign.

"These guidelines emphasize what many are experiencing during the COVID restrictions that are applied all over the world. And that is that being active every day is good not only our bodies but also our mental health," said Fiona Bull, head of WHO's physical activity unit.

Pregnant women and postpartum mothers are now included in the recommendations of 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity per week for adults.

Adults above 65 are advised to add muscle strengthening and activities focusing on balance and coordination to help prevent falls later.

'Stay at home'

The WHO regional branch for the Americas recommended postponing or reducing mass gatherings during the approaching holiday season as cases surge again in many countries.

With every gathering, every shopping trip and every travel plan increasing the chances of spreading the virus, the safest option for everyone is to stay at home, the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) Assistant Director Jarbas Barbosa said in a briefing.

The organization does not recommend relying on laboratory tests for travelers because they do not guarantee safe travel or eliminate the risks related to infected travelers, he said.

The Americas reported more than 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 in the last seven days, the highest weekly number since the start of the pandemic, PAHO said.

The rapid surge of infections in the United States continues, and cases have accelerated in countries of North, Central and South America, it said.

In Canada, infections are rising particularly among the elderly and indigenous communities, Barbosa said.