In this undated image grab made from video provided by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on Oct 2, 2020, scientists work with a bioreactor at a company facility in New York for efforts on an experimental coronavirus antibody drug. (PHOTO / REGENERON VIA AP)

QUITO / LONDON / ADDIS ABABA / TBILISI / SANTIAGO / ZAGREB / PARIS / VIENNA / BUDAPEST / LOS ANGELES / MILAN / SAO PAULO / MOSCOW / BERLIN / PRAGUE  - Powerful drugs recently authorized by the United States that may prevent those at the earliest stages of COVID-19 from suffering severe diseases present thorny new challenges, including who will get them and where they’ll be administered.

The sooner you have some of the signature symptoms, the sooner you get tested, the sooner you get results, the sooner you’ll be a candidate for the medicine.

David Ricks, Chief executive officer, Eli Lilly & Co

Antibody treatments, like one from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc that was used to treat US President Donald Trump, are often administered to patients at their peak contagiousness. Regeneron’s drug, along with a therapy from Eli Lilly & Co, were authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration for use within 10 days following patients’ first symptoms, and doctors will be racing against time to give them.

Though the US has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to snap up the antibody treatments, they will be rationed due to limited supplies. Officials are working to establish sites to infuse the medications to patients with mild to moderate disease who had until recently been advised to stay home during an unprecedented surge in cases.

“Having a patient who has a coronavirus infection come to a hospital setting to get an IV injection is a problem, mostly because you have to isolate the patients from the rest of the patient population,” Operation Warp Speed leader Moncef Slaoui said in an interview. “That’s what we are working very hard to solve.”

While Trump touted Regeneron’s therapy after receiving it in October, infectious disease doctors note that the evidence supporting the drugs’ use in COVID-19 is not yet definitive. Yet there’s hope they could help the US battle its worst-ever coronavirus surge and offer a reprieve amid rising hospitalizations.

Physicians will refer patients for treatment, and in some cases emergency department providers can administer the drugs, US health officials said at a Nov 23 briefing. Yet access issues loom.

Timely testing, a longstanding challenge in the US, is also a key factor. 

“The sooner you have some of the signature symptoms, the sooner you get tested, the sooner you get results, the sooner you’ll be a candidate for the medicine,” Lilly Chief Executive Officer David Ricks said in an interview.

Global tally

Coronavirus cases worldwide has surpassed 62.3 million while the global death toll neared 1.5 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Africa tally

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded across the African continent has reached 2,137,871, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday.

The death toll related to COVID-19 rose to 51,248 as of Saturday afternoon, it added.

Austria

Austria should expect further heavy restrictions when its current lockdown measures expire on Dec 7, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told Austrian paper Kleine Zeitung.

Speaking to Kleine Zeitung, Kurz said new measures to be announced on Wednesday would depend on COVID-19 case developments.

The government aims to begin reopening with trade and schools, he said, while establishing cautious steps towards easing.

Nearly 1,000 people in Austria have died of COVID-19 from Nov 18 to Nov 28, according to data published by the Austrian Interior Ministry on Saturday.

The death toll has risen from 2,054 to 3,018 over the past 10 days, with 132 additional fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours, said the ministry.

Meanwhile, the tally has increased to 275,661 after 4,669 new cases were confirmed in the past day. A total of 210,697 patients have recovered from the disease so far.

Belgium

Belgium reported 998 coronavirus patients in intensive care on Saturday. It was the the first time the figure slipped below 1,000 after crossing into the four-digit area on Oct 30, and reaching a peak of 1,474 on Nov 10.

The development came the day after Prime Minister Alexander De Croo warned the country might not ease virus restrictions before mid-January. While the situation was “better than four weeks ago,” De Croo said, “we have to persevere and not endanger what we’ve achieved.”

The Belgian 14-day incidence rate has dropped to 397 of 100,000 population, slipping below 400 for the first time since mid October.

Brazil

Brazil has registered 51,922 additional coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours and another 587 deaths, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The South American country has now registered 6,290,272 confirmed cases and 172,561 deaths in total.

Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will deliver another dose of stimulus to shore up an economic recovery that’s starting to creak amid a second wave of COVID-19 in Canada.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to announce billions of additional funding in a fiscal update Monday, with dozens of new measures that could include topping up existing benefits to families and business along with teeing up money for infrastructure, daycare and climate change. 

Chile

The Chilean Ministry of Health reported on Saturday that 1,718 new COVID-19 cases and 44 more deaths had been registered in the last 24 hours.

According to official data, the death toll stood at 15,322 while the tally was at 548,941.

Currently there were 9,519 active cases, while a total of 523,792 patients have recovered.

There were 703 people in intensive care, of whom 554 were on ventilators and 65 in critical condition.

Croatia

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has begun a 10-day self-quarantine after his wife tested positive for COVID-19, the government announced on Saturday evening.

Ana Maslac Plenkovic tested positive on Saturday after developing a mild fever, the government said in a press release.

The prime minister tested negative, the government said, adding that he will work from home during the 10-day quarantine.

Croatia registered 3,987 new COVID-19 cases and 55 related deaths in the last 24 hours, the Croatian Institute of Public Health announced earlier Saturday.

Czech Republic

The Czech government will allow restaurants and non-essential shops to reopen on Dec 3 as a wave of coronavirus infections eases, Health Mister Jan Blatny said on Sunday.

The country will move down one notch to level 3 on its 5-level coronavirus risk scale, which means all shops and restaurants can open but must limit customer numbers to allow for social distancing.

A nighttime curfew will be lifted but pubs must close by 10 pm. Museums and galleries can open with limited capacity and individual indoor sports activities can resume.

Groups of up to 50 people may gather outside and 10 inside, from a maximum of 6 anywhere at the moment.

The government was aware that relaxing the restrictions may slow the improvement in case numbers, but plans to counter this with wider antigen testing, he said.

Deaths in the country of 10.7 million people reached 8,054 as of Saturday, and total cases 518,649. The daily number of new cases dropped below 5,000 in six out of the past seven days.

Ecuador 

Ecuador registered 1,375 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the national count to 190,909, the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) reported on Saturday.

Thirteen more deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 13,371, said the MSP.

Quito, the current epicenter of the outbreak, has reported 63,353 cases in total.

France

COVID-19 hospitalizations in France further declined on Saturday as the country began a gradual easing of a nationwide lockdown.

A total of 28,168 COVID-19 patients remained in hospitals, down by 480, consolidating a downward trend reported since mid-November. Meanwhile, 3,777 patients remained in intensive care, compared to 3,883 on Friday, according to official data.

A total of 12,580 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall tally to 2,208,699.

The death toll rose to 52,127 after 213 additional deaths were registered in the past 24 hours.

France began the first phase of a three-stage reopening Saturday. All non-essential shops reopened under strict health protocols, indoor religious services were allowed to be held with 30 worshippers, and people can go out for exercise for up to three hours a day and within a 20-kilometer radius of their homes.

Germany

Germany reported 14,611 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 1,042,700, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Sunday.

The death toll increased by 158 to 16,123, according to RKI.

A total of 3,888 patients were in the intensive care, the RKI said in its latest situation report, noting that the increase in ICU cases has slowed down slightly since mid-November. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to rally citizens after Germany reported its worst run of COVID-19 fatalities since the pandemic broke out.

“We have come a long way,” she said in her weekly podcast published on the government’s website, imploring people to wear masks and stick to social-distancing measures as cases mount. “Each and everyone one of us still has a role to play.”

Merkel’s comments come after the daily toll exceeded 300 for a fifth day on Friday, the first time that’s happened since the disease reached Germany.

Georgia

Georgia's stricter nationwide coronavirus restrictions took effect on Saturday, including a curfew and the suspension of intercity public transport services.

Greece

Greece reported 121 COVID-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours, a daily record. 

The number of daily cases fell to 1,747, bringing the overall tally to 103,034. 

Hungary

Hungary on Saturday registered 6,268 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising the tally to 204,708, according to the government's coronavirus information website.

A record 152 additional fatalities were recorded, raising the toll to 4,516.

A total of 54,021 patients have recovered, while there were 7,536 patients being treated in hospital, including 644 on ventilators.

Italy

Italy reported on Saturday 686 deaths from COVID-19 and 26,323 new cases, in a declining trend compared with the previous day. 

The number of patients in intensive care units across the country continued to fall slightly for the third day, while total number of hospitalized patients fell for the fifth day.

Italy was the first Western country to be hit by the virus and has seen 54,363 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain. It has also registered 1.564 million cases.

The health ministry said on Friday it would ease anti-COVID-19 restrictions in five regions as of Nov 29, including in the country’s richest and most populous region, Lombardy.

Morocco

Morocco announced 4,412 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 349,688.

The number of recoveries increased by 4,538 to 298,574, while the death toll rose by 50 to 5,739, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Russia

Russia reported 26,683 fresh coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, with the number declining for a second day. 

The new additions took the total to 2.269 million, according to data from the Russian government’s virus response center. 

In the past day, 459 more people have died of the disease, taking the total death toll to 39,527.

This May 4, 2020 file photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine shows the first patient enrolled in Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine clinical trial at the university in Baltimore, the United States. (PHOTO / UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE VIA AP)

UK

The United Kingdom is poised to become the first country to approve Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine, ahead of a long line of countries waiting for protection from the coronavirus which causes COVID-19.

Clearance is possible as soon as early next week, according to a person familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified because the process is confidential.

The first injections could take place from Dec 7, the Financial Times reported earlier.

On Sunday, the British government said the country has secured two million doses of Moderna Inc’s vaccine candidate, to be available in Europe as early as the spring, in addition to the 5 million doses it secured from the US company two weeks ago.

The news that the UK could approve a vaccine comes as Nadhim Zahawi, a junior minister for the Department of Business, was appointed as minister overseeing the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

Despite progress on the vaccine, the government still needs to convince lawmakers to back its new tougher tiered measures which will put 99 percent of English people into the highest two levels of restrictions when the current national lockdown ends on Dec 2.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country's new tiered system of COVID-19 restrictions "have a sunset of 3 February," the Sky News reported here on Saturday, citing his letter to MPs of his Conservative Party.

Separately, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove wrote in an article published Saturday in the Times newspaper that hospitals in England would risk being overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases without the new, tougher tiered system.

The UK reported 15,871 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 1,605,172, according to official figures released on Saturday.

Deaths rose by 479 to 58,030, the data showed.

Also on Saturday, police in London said they had made 155 arrests as they tried to break up anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine protests.

US

San Francisco was moved to the most restrictive tier by California following a jump in coronavirus cases, prompting a slew of new measures across the city. 

The new restrictions will kick off Sunday, starting with the closing of movie theaters, gyms, museums, zoos and aquariums, and even houses of worship. The capacity at indoor stores, including pharmacies, will be cut by half to 25 percent.

Los Angeles, which imposed another stay-home order starting Monday, said the measures are less stringent than those issued in March despite a sudden case surge because face-wearing and social distancing have proven effective. The city has more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other US county, with a five-day average of more than 4,500 new cases.

California reported 11,996 new cases, with new infections declining for a third day after hitting a record earlier in the week. That brings the total to 1.18 million. The state also added 56 additional deaths, with its toll at 19,089.

READ MORE: US COVID-19 cases post daily record after Thanksgiving break

A social distancing sign is pictured at the International Plaza and Bay Street Mall in Tampa, Florida, the United States, on Nov 27, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Elsewhere in the United States, New York City reported the most daily cases since May, passing 1,500 for the second consecutive day, based on a seven-day average. “We are entering a challenging period of sustained COVID-19 spread across this state,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Iowa reported outbreaks of three or more infections at 153 long-term care facilities, according to state data. Deaths in the facilities number 1,059, almost half the total 2,360 recorded in Iowa since the start of the outbreak, the data show.

Nationwide, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday reported 12,999,664 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 176,572 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,283 to 263,956.

The governor of Colorado, where an estimated one in 41 of the state’s 5.7 million residents carried the COVID-19 virus over the past week, has tested positive and is resting at home.

Meanwhile, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell informed fellow Senate Republicans on Saturday that he was temporarily suspending their in-person lunches amid increasing infections nationally, including some more conference members this month. 

US health authorities will hold an emergency meeting next week to recommend that a coronavirus vaccine awaiting approval be given first to healthcare professionals and people in long-term care facilities.