IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, on June 5, 2019. (JIM WATSON / AFP)

UNITED NATIONS / ADDIS ABABA / ABUJA / MADRID / HARARE / NIAMEY / SAO PAULO / OTTAWA / DUBLIN / BUENOS AIRES / PRAGUE / STOCKHOLM / PARIS / KAMPALA / LONDON / WASHINGTON / TIRANA / MOSCOW / BERLIN / MEXICO CITY / CAPE TOWN / KIEV / LJUBLJANA / VILNIUS / ROME / QUITO / SANTIAGO / FRANKFURT / LA PAZ / BOGOTA / LIMA / GENEVA / BRUSSELS / THE HAGUE - The European Central Bank rolled out yet more stimulus measures on Thursday to lift the currency bloc out of a double-dip recession and provide support to the economy while its 350 million people wait for coronavirus vaccines to be deployed.

With many businesses shuttered, unemployment surging and debt hitting record highs, central bank cash has thrown governments and firms a lifeline this year but much of 2021 will pass before significant relief is likely.

Making good on its promise to keep supporting the economy during the pandemic, the ECB expanded its debt purchase scheme and agreed to provide banks with even more ultra-cheap liquidity as long as they keep passing the cash onto companies.

ECB President Christine Lagarde said consumers remained nervous and business investment vulnerable to further ebbs in confidence, making any recovery patchy and uneven at best.

“Incoming data and our staff projections suggest a more pronounced near-term impact of the pandemic on the economy and a more protracted weakness in inflation than previously envisaged,” she told a news conference.

The bank released new projections putting euro area growth next year at 3.9 percent compared to an earlier forecast of 5.5 percent, but accelerating to 4.2 percent in 2022 from a previous estimate of 3.2 percent.

After ticking along at 1.0 percent next year, inflation was now seen barely rising to 1.1 percent in 2022, down from an earlier forecast of 1.3 percent.

Lagarde expressed the hope that, by the end of 2021, mass coronavirus vaccination will have created sufficient immunity for the region’s huge services sector to get back to some level of normality, but added a note of caution.

Moderna

Moderna Inc said on Thursday it had dosed the first participant in a mid-to-late stage study testing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in adolescents aged 12 to less than 18.

The study is being conducted in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

“Our goal is to generate data in the spring of 2021 that will support the use of mRNA-1273 in adolescents in advance of the 2021 school year,” said Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel.

The news comes as the United States prepares to begin distributing the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines from both Moderna and rival Pfizer/BioNTech to adults, upon regulatory nod for emergency use.

A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will meet on Thursday to discuss whether to recommend the use of Pfizer’s vaccine for people aged 16 and older. A similar meeting of advisers to the FDA is scheduled for Dec. 17 to discuss Moderna’s vaccine.

Rival Pfizer is also studying its vaccine candidate in participants as young as 12.

South Africa

South Africa’s government declared a second wave of coronavirus infections as the number of cases surged.

The second wave in South Africa is being driven by the provinces of Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the economic hub Gauteng, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said

The wave is being driven by the provinces of Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the economic hub Gauteng, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement Wednesday. A seven-day moving average graph shows that the increases in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are exponential, he said.

"It's important to highlight that today we have breached the 6,000 mark in terms of new cases," Mkhize said.

South Africa registered a record 6,709 infections on Wednesday, bringing the total caseload to 828,598 with 22,574 deaths.

Mkhize said there was an increasing number of young people testing positive for the virus.

"The age group 15-19 years showed the highest number of cases over the past two days," he said.

This image grab made from UNTV video shows United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaking during the UN General Assembly's special session on COVID-19, at the UN headquarters in New York, on Dec 3, 2020. (PHOTO / UNTV VIA AP)

UN

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that he will take a COVID-19 vaccine publicly when such a vaccine becomes available to him.

Each one of us being vaccinated provides a service to the whole community because we are no longer spreading, there is no risk of spreading the disease. So vaccination is for me a moral obligation in relation to all of us.

Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general

"I encourage everybody, as access to the vaccine (becomes available), to be vaccinated, because it is a service not only that we provide to ourselves. Each one of us being vaccinated provides a service to the whole community because we are no longer spreading, there is no risk of spreading the disease," he told reporters after an annual United Nations-African Union conference.

"So vaccination is for me a moral obligation in relation to all of us."

Guterres repeated his call for a COVID-19 vaccine to be a global public good available to everyone, everywhere, and particularly, available in Africa.

ALSO READ: UK warns people with serious allergies to avoid Pfizer vaccine

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Thursday pledged an additional US$250 million to support the development of low-cost and easier to deliver treatments and vaccines against COVID-19.

The Gates Foundation’s latest contribution, its largest till date, comes on top of the US$70 million funding that it added in November. This brings its total commitments to the global pandemic response to US$1.75 billion, the foundation said.

Africa

African countries will have access to COVID-19 vaccines from the end of January through the first quarter of 2021, said a special envoy of the African Union (AU) on Wednesday.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the AU special envoy on mobilizing international economic support for the continent's fight against COVID-19, gave the assurance after a closed-door meeting with Nigeria's Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama in the capital city of Abuja.

She said the vaccines will initially be made available for frontline health workers, followed by some other target groups - older people, and those with underlying conditions.

"I think the COVAX facility can cover about 20 percent to 23 percent of the population by the end of next year," Okonjo-Iweala said.

As of Wednesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded across the African continent stood at 2,284,907 and the toll stood at 54,503, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Albania

Police used tear gas late on Wednesday to disperse hundreds of Albanians protesting the killing by police of a young man who authorities said had violated an overnight curfew imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

A 25-year-old man identified by Albanian media as Klodian Rasha was killed early on Tuesday in what police described as an excessive use of force by an officer during a curfew introduced to prevent the surge of COVID-19 cases.

The police officer who allegedly killed the man was arrested and an investigation was launched.

“The police officer did not act according to the law while using his firearm,” Albanian police said in a statement.

Argentina

Argentina on Wednesday reported 5,303 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its tally to 1,475,222, said the Ministry of Health.

The ministry said that 213 more patients have died of the disease, raising the death toll to 40,222.

A total of 1,311,488 patients have recovered, while 123,512 cases remain active, it said.

Buenos Aires Province has registered a total of 631,466 infections, or 42.8 percent of the nation's caseload.

Belgium

Belgium on Wednesday reported 3,071 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing its tally to 597,643, according to the public health institute Sciensano.

It also reported 96 more deaths, taking the death toll to 17,603.

Bolivia

Bolivia's Ministry of Health on Wednesday reported 214 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country's tally to 146,060.

It also reported two more deaths and another 260 recoveries.

Minister of Economy Marcelo Montenegro said earlier that the government was working on a series of strategies to face another potential outbreak of COVID-19, seeking to avoid measures that would harm economic recovery.

Brazil

Brazil on Wednesday reported 836 additional deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 178,995, said the Ministry of Health.

Another 53,453 new cases took the tally to 6,728,452, the ministry said.

Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said the government was "closing a memorandum of understanding" with Pfizer to acquire its vaccine.

Immunization could happen "at the end of January or even in December" once national health regulator Anvisa grants "emergency authorization" to Pfizer to use its vaccine, Pazuello said in a televised interview with CNN.

Meanwhile, Joao Doria, governor of Sao Paulo, announced that Brazil's Butantan Institute will present the results of its trials of Chinese vaccine CoronaVac  to the country's Health Regulatory Agency on Dec 15.  

Canada

Canada’s public health authorities approved Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, the first such authorization in a country that’s secured more doses per person than any other around the world.

The first doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in Canada next week, and plans are already in place to have the shots ready to be administered at 14 delivery sites in major cities across Canada, within one or two days of shipments arriving.

As of Wednesday morning, Canada has reported a total of 432,659 COVID-19 cases with 12,931 deaths, according to CTV.

Chile

The average positivity rate of tests to detect the novel coronavirus in Chile rose to 5.62 percent, the highest since October, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

Tests detected 1,247 new infections, bringing the total caseload to 564,778, while 10 more fatalities lifted the death toll to 15,690.

According to the ministry, 667 people were hospitalized in intensive care units, including 493 on ventilators and 70 in critical condition.

The regions with the highest increase in cases in the past seven days include the capital Santiago and metropolitan area, while the southern Magallanes region continues to have the highest positivity rate at 16 percent.

Starting Thursday, the metropolitan area will reimpose lockdowns on weekends and holidays to curb the transmission of the virus.

Colombia

Colombia reported 7,523 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 1,392,133, health authorities said on Wednesday.

The country also reported 150 additional fatalities, raising the death toll to 38,308, according to the official Twitter account of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.

Czech Republic

The Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic on Wednesday approved the extension of the state of emergency in the country until Dec 23.

Members of the lower house on Wednesday also approved a tightening of sanctions for non-compliance with COVID-19 restrictions. Under the new rule, companies could face fines of up to three million crowns (US$137,800) for violating restrictions.

Ecuador

Ecuador is fine tuning its vaccination plan against the COVID-19 pandemic which it expects to launch in the first three months of 2021, Deputy Health Minister Xavier Solorzano said on Wednesday.

An initial batch of vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2021.

Close to 200,000 people in Ecuador have tested positive for COVID-19 and 9,295 people have died from the disease, the health ministry said.

Another 4,519 deaths are suspected of having been caused by the virus, but have not been confirmed, according to the ministry. 

Ethiopia

Ethiopia on Wednesday reported 568 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 114,834, Health Minister Lia Tadesse tweeted.

Three more COVID-19 deaths were recorded, taking the toll to 1,769, she said.

The number of recoveries rose by 2,296 to 87,244, she added.

EU

The European Central Bank (ECB) will unveil fresh stimulus measures on Thursday to prop up the recession-hit currency bloc long enough for a coronavirus vaccine to be deployed and its devastated economy to start to heal.

In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s meeting, ECB President Christine Lagarde has made clear that a bigger Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) and more subsidized long-term loans for banks will form the backbone of policy measures, even if other moves are possible.

France

More than half of the French don’t plan to get a shot against COVID-19, according to a survey by pollster Elabe for BFM TV published on Wednesday. 

Of those surveyed, 52 percent said they certainly or probably won’t get vaccinated, up 4 points from two weeks earlier. That’s even as 70 percent of respondents said they’re worried about the coronavirus. 

The country on Wednesday reported 14,595 COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, up from 13,713 registered in the previous day, according to health authorities.

The cumulative total has risen to 2,324,216, including 56,648 deaths, up by 296.

READ MORE: German COVID-19 deaths rise the most since start of pandemic

Germany

Germany will see deaths from COVID-19 rise in coming weeks as the virus spreads rapidly among older people, authorities warned in an appeal to residents to stay home over the holidays.

Seven-day infection rates in people above the age of 80 have reached nearly 250 per 100,000 residents, the Robert Koch Institute warned on Thursday. That’s about two-thirds higher than in the population as a whole. Outbreaks in care homes are at about twice the level of the first wave of the pandemic in the spring, RKI President Lothar Wieler said.

Germany reported 23,679 new COVID-19 infections within one day, a new record, bringing the total to 1.24 million, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Thursday.

The number of deaths related to COVID-19 in the country increased by 440 within one day to a tally of 20,372 on Thursday, according to RKI, the federal government agency for disease control and prevention. Germany witnessed a new record of 590 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday.

Hungary

Hungary on Thursday registered 5,415 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 265,003, according to official figures.

The death toll rose by 171 to 6,451. 

Critical cases totaled 645 while the number of active cases stood at 181,190.

Ireland

Ireland on Wednesday reported 227 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 74,900, the country's National Public Health Emergency Team said in a statement.

Five additional COVID-19 deaths were also reported, taking the death toll to 2,102, according to the statement.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 224 patients were hospitalized, including 38 in intensive care. 

Italy

Italy reported on Wednesday 12,756 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its tally to 1,770,149, according to health authorities.

The health ministry reported 499 more fatalities over the past day, taking the toll to 61,739, the second highest in Europe after the UK. 

Lithuania

Lithuania's Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 3,128 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, the biggest daily increase since the country confirmed its first case on Feb 28.

The latest confirmed cases brought the nation's tally to 80,556, including 704 deaths and 33,708 recoveries.

Mexico

Mexico reported on Wednesday 11,974 new COVID-19 cases and another 781 deaths, bringing the tally to 1,205,229 and the toll to 111,655, according to the country's health ministry.

Netherlands

The Netherlands reported on Wednesday 6,589 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing its tally to 576,965, according to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

The country also reported 66 additional deaths, lifitng the total death toll to 9,841, the RIVM said.

Niger

Niger on Wednesday confirmed 91 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nation's tally to 2,078, said the country's Ministry of Public Health.

The death toll remained at 79 as o additional deaths were reported. 

Nigeria

Nigeria on Wednesday confirmed 474 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nation's caseload to 70,669, said the country's Center for Disease Control.

The death toll rose to 1,184, according to the center.

Peru

Peru confirmed 691 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, taking its total caseload to 977,312 as of 10 pm Tuesday (0300 GMT Wednesday), according to the country's health ministry.

The ministry also reported 54 more deaths, raising the total death toll to 36,455.

Pfizer

Pfizer Inc said some documents it had submitted to Europe’s top drug regulator regarding its COVID-19 vaccine had been accessed in a cyberattack on the agency.

The US drugmaker and German partner BioNTech SE said in a statement that none of their systems had been breached in connection with the incident and that they are “unaware that any study participants have been identified through the data being accessed”.

Pfizer and BioNTech said the European Medicines Agency informed them that the attack would have no effect on the timing of the vaccine review.

Portugal

Portugal on Wednesday reported 4,097 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 332,073, the health ministry said.

The country also saw 70 more deaths, raising the death toll to 5,192, it said.

The number of recoveries rose by 2,272 to 254,700. 

Romania

Romania reported 7,365 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 532,040, according to an official daily report on Wednesday.

The country also reported 161 more death, raising the total death toll to 12,821. 

The number of hospitalizations stood at 12,430, with 1,271 patients treated in intensive care, according to the report.  

Russia

Russia has recorded 27,927 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, up from 26,190 a day earlier, the country's COVID-19 response center said Thursday.

The new cases took the country's overall tally to 2,569,126, including 45,280 deaths and 2,033,669 recoveries, the center said.

Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, reported 6,730 new cases over the past day, bringing the city's total to 671,948.

A health official’s warning that anyone getting vaccinated against COVID-19 with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine should give up alcohol for almost two months has caused a backlash among some Russians who call the request unreasonable.

Anna Popova, head of the consumer health watchdog, warned Tuesday that alcohol would reduce the body’s ability to build up immunity to COVID-19.

Her advice was contradicted by Alexander Gintsburg, the vaccine’s developer. He said it would be prudent to reduce alcohol use by a reasonable amount while the body built up immunity, but said there was no need to give up completely.

It was crucial however, he said, to refrain from alcohol three days before and after the two injections required. He said such advice was the same for anyone getting vaccinated around the world and not specific to Russia or Sputnik.

Slovenia

Slovenia on Wednesday reported 2,139 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 90,075, according to official figures.

Thirty-eight newly reported deaths took the toll to 1,900.

According to the COVID-19 tracker site Sledilnik, the country currently has 20,736 active cases.

After the government on Tuesday opened a special website where the population can register their intention to get inoculated when a vaccine becomes available, 16,930 have registered in less than 24 hours, according to Jelko Kacin, the government's COVID-19 spokesman.

Spain

Spain will abolish value-added tax (VAT) on the sale of COVID-19 vaccines and tests until the end of 2022 in accordance with newly-reached European Union agreements, a senior official said Wednesday.

Vaccinations in Spain will be free for citizens and administered by the public health system, Finance Minister and Government Spokesperson Maria Jesus Montero told the press after the weekly cabinet meeting.

Separately, Health Minister Salvador Illa said that Spain will kick off its vaccination drive in January, aiming to cover a large percentage of the population by May.

On Tuesday, the health ministry reported 9,773 fresh infections and 373 deaths over the previous 48 hours, taking the tally to 1,712,101 with 47,019 deaths.

It was the first time since August that the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants had fallen below 200. 

Sweden

COVID-19 infections in Sweden topped 300,000 on Wednesday after another 7,061 cases were registered in the past 24 hours, according to data from the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

The tally in the Nordic country now stand at 304,793, including 7,296 fatalities, the data showed.

The head of Stockholm’s health service appealed to national authorities to send specialist nurses and other hospital staff as it struggles to cope with a second wave of infections that has filled intensive care wards in Sweden’s capital city.

There were 814 COVID-19 patients being treated in Stockholm hospitals and geriatric wards on Wednesday, up from 748 last Friday, the region said. 

Eriksson said 83 patients were treated in intensive care in Stockholm. “That corresponds more or less to all intensive care beds we normally have,” he said.

Switzerland

Switzerland reported 5,086 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its total caseload to 363,654, according to the latest data released on the government website on Wednesday.

The death toll climbed by 117 to 5,710 while the total number of recoveries reached 283,000, according to figures from the Federal Office of Public Health.

The government said the epidemiological situation in the country was noticeably deteriorating, and it was considering stricter control measures nationwide.

Uganda

Uganda's Ministry of Health on Wednesday reported 1,199 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 25,059.

The ministry said in a statement that 12 more deaths were recorded in the past day, raising the number of fatalities to 219.

UK

Another 16,578 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,766,819, according to official figures released Wednesday.

The toll rose by 533 to 62,566, the data showed.

Ukraine

As many as 13,371 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 858,714, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The death toll rose by 266 to 14,470.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on his official Telegram channel on Wednesday that the government has decided to introduce a lockdown across the country from Jan 8 until Jan 24 next year.

According to the prime minister, cafes, restaurants, and bars (except for delivery and take-away), non-food stores, cinemas, fitness clubs, gyms, theaters, and shopping centers will be closed during this period.

All educational institutions, except for kindergartens, will take a break. In addition, all public events will be banned and public transport will operate but with certain restrictions.

A sign advising visitors of anti-coronavirus measures is seen at Sunnyside Playground in San Francisco, the United States, Dec 9, 2020. (JEFF CHIU / AP)

US

The United States on Wednesday registered more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths within 24 hours, the highest daily toll since April, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

As of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Thursday), the country had recorded a total of 289,188 COVID-19 deaths, up by 3,071 over the past 24 hours.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) forecasts the US toll will rise above 300,000 deaths by Christmas

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) forecasts the US toll will rise above 300,000 deaths by Christmas.

Overall, 15,379,574 cases have been reported nationwide, making the US the hardest hit by the pandemic across the world.

ALSO READ: US still short of virus protection

More than 240,000 health care workers have been infected with COVID-19 and 858 have died, according to the US CDC.

Hospitalizations nationwide grew to a new all-time high of 105,805 by late Wednesday, up 18 percent over the previous two weeks.

Ten mostly rural counties scattered across California reported having no intensive care unit beds available on Wednesday, according to state health data analyzed by Reuters.

Meanwhile, Tom Wolf, governor of Pennsylvania state, said on Wednesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

The coronavirus was circulating in Italy as early as the end of November 2019, according to a new report published by the US CDC

Elsewhere, an outbreak of COVID-19 in the Michigan House infecting at least eight members and 21 staffers has forced the cancellation of voting sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. The infections come roughly a week after President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who is infected, appeared unmasked for marathon testimony before a House committee probing unsubstantiated claims of large-scale fraud in Michigan’s presidential election.

On vaccines, a panel of independent medical experts was due meet on Thursday to decide whether to recommend that a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech should receive emergency use authorization of the US Food and Drug Administration.

Less than half of the available 6.4 million doses of Pfizer’s shot will be initially sent out to states, and 500,000 will be held separately in reserve by the government, according to Gustave Perna, the army general who serves as Operation Warp Speed’s chief operating officer.

Meanwhile, according to a new report published by the US CDC, the coronavirus was circulating in Italy as early as the end of November 2019. 

Tests showed that a child from the Milan area contracted a severe acute coronavirus respiratory syndrome in early December 2019, about three months before the first COVID-19 cases were identified in the country, according the report. The symptoms were mistaken for a case of measles.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe reported 95 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 11,007, the health ministry tweeted Wednesday on its official account.

The country also reported one more death, taking the toll to 304, said the ministry.

A total of 9,147 patients have recovered from the disease in the southern African country.

Greece 

Greece reported 1,677 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national total to 119,720, authorities announced on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the country's death toll from the virus increased by 95 to 3,289, according to the National Public Health Organization.

Denmark

Denmark's Minister for Health and Elderly Affairs Magnus Heunicke announced on Thursday an extension of the country's partial lockdown measures to include a further 31 municipalities as of 4 pm local time on Friday.

At a press conference, he also reported a new daily record of 3,132 coronavirus cases, which was a major spike after Wednesday's record of 2,558 daily cases.

"It's going too fast now," commented Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. She was in Brussels on Thursday to attend a summit meeting of the European Union (EU) member states' leaders.

To date, Denmark has reported 100,489 COVID-19 cases and 918 deaths, according to the Statens Serum Institut, a government-funded public health and research institute under the Ministry of Health.

Panama 

Panama confirmed 1,811 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the nationwide tally to 182,977, the Ministry of Health reported.

The country also reported 23 new deaths from the virus, taking its total death toll to 3,264, said the ministry. 

Belarus 

Belarus reported 1,939 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the most daily infections to date, taking the national total to 154,392, said the health ministry.

There were 2,135 new recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 132,085.

So far, 1,238 people have died of the disease in the country, including eight over the past 24 hours, said the ministry.

Georgia 

Georgia reported 4,570 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking its national total to 178,953.

Of the new cases, 2,067 were confirmed in the capital city of Tbilisi, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health said.

As of Thursday, a total of 148,332 patients have recovered while 1,657 others have died, said the center.

Honduras 

Honduras on Wednesday reported 617 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 112,792, its health ministry tweeted on its official account.

The country also reported nine more deaths from the disease, raising the national death toll to 2,961, said the ministry.