A passenger with a face mask sits in an Air Corsica Airbus A 320 to Marseille during the Christmas holidays, at Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte airport on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, on Dec 23, 2020. (PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP)
LONDON / NEW YORK / ADDIS ABABA / SAO PAUO / PAIRS / CAIRO / MOSCOW / MINSK / TBILISI - France’s National Authority for Health allowed use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 for people age 16 and older in France, Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday.
The health authority cited the vaccine’s efficacy and satisfactory tolerance profile in the last regulatory step before the start of France’s vaccination campaign on Sunday.
French President Emmanuel Macron "no longer shows symptoms of COVID-19 to this day," the French presidency announced on Thursday.
As provided for in the health protocol, the president will therefore be able to end his isolation, said Elysee in a statement.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex, after having a second test on coronavirus which proved negative, is ending his self-isolation, the prime minister's office announced on the same day.
France reported another 14,929 coronavirus cases and 276 more deaths in the past 24 hours, according to data released on Wednesday by the Health Ministry.
A total of 24,884 coronavirus patients remained hospitalized, down by 80 compared to the previous day, while 2,710 patients were in intensive care, down by 18.
The country now has a total of 2,505, 875 cases, with 61,978 deaths.
Global tally
Coronavirus cases worldwide has surpassed 78.6 million while the global death toll has exceeded 1.73 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
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An electronic road sign over Speer Boulevard advises motorists of the need to wear a face covering to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, Dec. 23, 2020, in Denver. (PHOTO / AP)
US
The US may lead the world in COVID-19 vaccine shots administered, with 1,008,025 doses given in the 10 days since the first doses were cleared for use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State-led vaccination campaigns are rolling out shots from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., focused at first on hundreds of thousands of health-care workers. The vaccines require two shots weeks apart to deliver the highest level of protection.
The US government will pay Pfizer Inc nearly US$2 billion for 100 million additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to bolster its supply as the country grapples with a nationwide spike in infections.
The US is trying to obtain samples of the mutant strain of SARS-CoV-2 that’s arisen in the UK for testing at the National Institutes of Health, according to Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease doctor.
The CDC also urged the public to avoid travel and stay at home during Christmas holiday, to curb the further spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Trump’s threat late Tuesday to veto the US$892 billion coronavirus relief bill approved by Congress this week may delay aid for millions of families on the cusp of eviction and about to lose unemployment benefits.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he will extend the state’s moratorium on evictions, which is set to expire Jan. 1.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city will strictly enforce quarantine rules for all travelers arriving in the city during the holidays, particularly those from the UK, where a highly contagious new COVID-19 strain has been detected.
Ireland
Irish health authorities said a variant of the coronavirus has arrived from the UK, and warned the situation was at its most worrying since March.
Almost 1,000 new cases were recorded Wednesday, the latest in a spike in numbers which has prompted the government to introduce new restrictions, including closing bars and restaurants on Christmas Eve for at least three weeks.
A spokesman of Irish agriculture minister Charlie McConalogue has confirmed that the minister has tested positive for COVID-19, reported the Irish national radio and television broadcaster RTE on Wednesday.
Spain
Spain plans to vaccinate about 2.3 million people over a 12-week period starting on Dec. 27. Spain will receive 4.5 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arriving in weekly batches from Dec. 26, Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Wednesday.
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Germany
Germany reported 32,195 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours on Thursday, bringing the national tally to 1,587,115, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
The nationwide death toll rose by 802 to 28,770, the RKI data showed.
Ukraine
Ukraine became at least the 16th nation to pass 1 million infections, with 11,490 new cases on Thursday. Authorities have been reluctant to reintroduce the strict lockdown measures like those it imposed in March. Restrictions are expected to tighten again after Jan. 8, once the Christmas holidays are over. The country has reported 17,395 coronavirus-related deaths.
Vials are seen on a tray in a lab at Sinovac Biotech where the company is producing their potential COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac during a media tour on Sept 24, 2020 in Beijing, China. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)
Lithuania
Lithuania reported 3,737 COVID-19 cases in the past day, bringing the national total to 120,094, according to data from the country's health ministry on Wednesday.
So far, 1,143 people have died, up by 50 in one day, while 55,926 have recovered in the country, the ministry reported.
Vaccination against coronavirus in Lithuania will start on Dec. 27 as the European Union (EU) gave the green light to using Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 within the bloc on Monday.
Portugal
The National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA) said Wednesday that three new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were detected in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal.
"We now verify, in this study in collaboration with the Gulbenkian Institute of Science (IGC), that the (genetic) variants of this second wave in Portugal have mutations that were not described throughout the first wave," Joao Paulo Gomes, responsible for the Bioinformatics Unit of the Department of Infectious Diseases at INSA, told Lusa News Agency.
The three variants detected in all regions of Portugal are in a "process of adaptation of the virus to humans,"
Canada
Canada’s public health authorities approved Moderna Inc.’s coronavirus vaccine, the second shot to be licensed in a country that’s secured more doses per person than any other around the world.
Approval of the Moderna shot will allow Canada to expand its vaccination campaign beyond initial inoculation sites in urban centers. Northern regions have specifically requested doses from the Massachusetts-based company due to less-cumbersome refrigeration requirements.
Russia
Russia registered another 29,935 COVID-19 cases and 635 more deaths over the past 24 hours, the highest daily number of infections and fatalities since the start of the pandemic, the country's official COVID-19 monitoring and response center said Thursday.
The national tally of cases has grown to 2,963,688, including 53,096 deaths and 2,370,857 recoveries, according to the center.
Official figures show that Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, reported 8,203 new cases over the past day, bringing the city's total count to 764,789.
Brazil
Brazil has reported 189,220 deaths from COVID-19, after registering 961 more deaths in the previous 24 hours on Wednesday.
According to the Ministry of Health, tests detected 46,696 new infections in the same period, raising the nationwide tally to 7,365,517.
The populous state of Sao Paulo, home to 46 million residents and epicenter of the national outbreak, has seen 45,576 deaths and 1,409,140 cases.
State health officials said in a statement there was a surge both in deaths and cases in the first 23 days of December compared to the same period in November.
Argentina
Argentina's Ministry of Health on Wednesday approved the use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 "on an emergency basis."
This vaccine "is presented as a safe and effective therapeutic tool ... to lower mortality, reduce morbidity and decrease the transmissibility of the disease," said a resolution signed by the Minister of Health Gines Gonzalez Garcia.
The authorization is the second of the kind granted by Argentina, following one issued Tuesday night for the vaccine produced by the Pfizer-BioNTech laboratories.
Mexico
Mexico plans to vaccinate 2,975 health care workers in COVID-19 units on Dec. 24, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on Wednesday night, after the nation received 3,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine earlier in the day. The next shipment will be 50,000 doses, with periodic deliveries to reach 1.4 million by the end of January. Lopez-Gatell said the vaccine will be free and universal in Mexico.
Mexico’s Health Ministry reported 11,653 new Covid-19 cases, pushing its total above 1.35 million.
Chile
The first 10,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease will arrive in Chile on Thursday to immunize healthcare staff working in intensive care units (ICUs), Health Minister Enrique Paris said Wednesday.
"This is great news for the country. We are one of the first countries in the world to start vaccination. That fills us with pride," Paris said at a press conference.
Honduras
Honduras on Wednesday began to restrict entry of travelers from the United Kingdom and South Africa, where a new strain of the coronavirus has appeared, according to the National Risk Management System.
"For Hondurans and foreigners residing in the country who have stayed or transited in countries of the United Kingdom or South Africa in the past two weeks, mandatory quarantine of at least 14 days is established upon entering the country," the agency said.
Africa
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African continent reached 2,544,950 on Wednesday, as the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic reached 60,254, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
A total of 2,145,138 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent as of Wednesday afternoon, the continental disease control and prevention agency said.
Police stand next to an electronic notice that says 'Testing to Commence', which will be a coronavirus test to help clear a backlog of freight, truck and passengers outside the Port of Dover in Dover, England, Dec 23, 2020. (PHOTO / AP)
UK
The UK reported nearly 40,000 new cases of the virus on Wednesday, the most since the pandemic began, as it sent more areas of the country into its toughest level of restrictions, while revealing that two cases of another new variant of the novel coronavirus have been identified in Britain.
“The rapid rise in cases is hugely worrying,” Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, said in an emailed statement. The nation reported 744 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test, the highest since the end of April.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed tougher regulations across a swath of England in an effort to control the mutant strain of coronavirus that’s spreading quickly across the country.
Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Most of Hampshire and the remainder of Essex will face the strictest rules under the government’s 4-tier system from 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 26, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in a press conference.
Hancock also said that another new variant of the novel coronavirus has been detected in Britain, and two cases have been reported so far.
"Both are contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks," said Hancock.
A study by British researchers said the new coronavirus variant found in the country is 56 percent more contagious, the New York Times reported.
Moderna Inc said on Wednesday it expects that the immunity induced by its COVID-19 vaccine would be protective against the coronavirus variants reported in the UK.
The company said it plans to run tests to confirm the vaccine’s activity against any strain.
Egypt
The coronavirus spread has suddenly spiked in Egypt as the north African country reported 911 new COVID-19 infections and 42 deaths on Wednesday, said Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed.
After this spike, total deaths reached 7,209 while infections hit 127,972, the minister told reporters during a press conference on the recent developments of the pandemic in Egypt.
Botswana
Botswana announced a curfew on Wednesday as the country reinstates strict measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Giving a public update on COVID-19 pandemic in a televised speech via Botswana Television, President Mokgweetsi Masisi announced that his government has taken a decision to impose a curfew starting Thursday.
"I wish to inform you that the government has taken a decision to impose a curfew from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. local time, from Dec. 24, 2020 to Jan. 3, 2021, in order to protect this nation from the impending catastrophe," he said.
This means that there shall be no movement of people and security forces will enforce a curfew, said Masisi, adding that all non-working people will be required to stay at home, except those who go out to buy groceries and seek medical attention.
South Africa
South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize called for further measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 after a surge in the number of infections in the country.
“The rate of spread is much faster than the first wave and we will surpass the peak of the first wave in the coming days,” Mkhize said in a statement. The country had a daily record of 14,046 new cases, bringing the cumulative total to 954,258, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.
Belarus
Belarus reported 1,917 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking its total to 181,113, according to the country's health ministry.
An additional 2,358 people have recovered in the past 24 hours, bringing the total recoveries to 159,437, the ministry added.
So far, 1,358 people have died of the disease in the country, including nine over the past 24 hours, it said.
Georgia
Georgia reported 1,972 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing its total to 216,843.
Among the new cases, 920 were confirmed in the capital city of Tbilisi, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) said.
In this Oct 23, 2020 photo, people wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus disease walk past an advertising dummy in the center of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. (SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP)
Ukraine
Ukraine’s coronavirus case-count surpassed 1 million, pushing the country past a grim benchmark as its dilapidated health-care system struggles to contain a pre-holiday surge in the disease.
Despite mobilizing its resources when the disease first struck in March, including establishing special wards and retraining health workers to treat Covid-19 patients, hospitals are at risk of being overrun. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government has also tried to walk a fine line between fighting the virus without a repeat of the economic damage wreaked by a strict spring lockdown.
The former Soviet state of 42 million people reported 11,490 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 1,001,132, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on Facebook. The death toll increased by 223 people to 17,395.
As of last week, only about a third of the 63,680 beds available for coronavirus patients were vacant, but that’s too few for new cases, according to Unicef. Another issue is the “huge need” for oxygen and more qualified staff. Hospitals are also struggling to provide protection for doctors and nurses, hundreds of whom have died from the virus.
