Medical staff wait for the next in line for a throat and nasal swab at a COVID-19 testing facility of the Municipal Health Authority GGD, in Utrecht, Netherlands, Dec 16, 2020. (PETER DEJONG / AP)

FRANKFURT / BERLIN / LONDON / ZURICH / CAPE TOWN / PARIS / SAO PAULO / HAVANA / ADDIS ABABA / KIEV / WASHINGTON / QUITO / BOGOTA / BUENOS AIRES / MEXICO CITY / LOS ANGELES / ROME / SANTIAGO / AMSTERDAM - The UK government will draft in the armed forces to help with coronavirus testing in schools as pressure builds on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to delay the return of students as a more virulent strain of the virus takes hold.

The government needs to bring in tighter lockdown rules to avert a fresh wave of deaths from a new strain of the disease, Andrew Hayward, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at University College London, warned on Tuesday. 

Hayward, who sits on a British government advisory body on respiratory diseases, said the new virus variant that infected people more easily meant existing lockdown measures in England were unlikely to be enough to slow the spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, a study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) concluded that Britain must vaccinate two million people a week to avoid a third wave of the coronavirus outbreak.

Britain reported 41,385 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, a daily record, as a rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus increases infection rates and the holiday weekend impacted the reporting of some new cases.

There were 357 additional deaths within 28 days of a positive test, the government’s coronavirus statistics portal showed.

The rise in positive cases was also partially driven by Northern Ireland reporting 1,634 new cases, having not reported any cases on Sunday or Friday due to the Christmas holiday period.

It was unclear whether a rise of cases in England by nearly 11,000 was partially a result of fluctuations in testing figures over the holiday weekend, as data on numbers of people being tested has not been published since Wednesday.

The Netherlands

The number of deaths in the Netherlands increased at the highest rate since World War II this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Dutch national statistics office (CBS) said on Tuesday.

Up to last week, around 162,000 deaths were reported in the country of 17 million this year, 13,000 more than would have been expected in a regular year, the CBS said.

"Such an increase of the number of deceased has not been reported since World War II,” it said.

Around 9,000 people more than normal died during the first wave of the COVID-19 infections between early March and early May, the CBS said, while more than 6,000 extra fatalities have been reported since the start of the second wave mid-September.

The number of deaths was lower than normal in most other weeks, the statisticians said.

A total of 770,400 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. More than 11,000 patients are known to have died from the disease.

The actual number of infections and fatalities is likely to be significantly higher, as a shortage of testing and lab capacity meant only seriously ill patients were tested during the first months of the pandemic.

AstraZeneca  

The European Medicines Authority (EMA) will most likely not be able to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by drug maker AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in January, the watchdog’s Deputy Executive Director Noel Wathion said.

“They have not even filed an application with us yet”, Wathion said in an interview with Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad published on Tuesday.

European regulators have only received some information about the vaccine, Wathion said.

A woman working in a nursing home receives a COVID-19 shot at the Arena Treptow vaccine center in Berlin, Germany, Dec 27, 2020. (MARKUS SCHREIBER / POOL / AP)

Germany

Germany’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign has been overshadowed by a mishap in the north where eight workers in an elderly care home received an overdose.

Vorpommern-Ruegen district authorities said the workers in Stralsund city received five times the recommended dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine on Sunday. Four went to hospital for observation after developing flu-like symptoms.

Authorities said eight people were given five times the recommended dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer shot, of whom four went to the hospital after developing flu-like symptoms

“I deeply regret the incident. This individual case is due to individual errors. I hope that all those affected do not experience any serious side-effects,” district chief Stefan Kerth said in a statement.

The incident came after some districts in Bavaria said on Monday they would not use the shots received over the weekend on concerns the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccines may have become too warm during their delivery in household cool boxes, a spokesman for the Lichtenfels district said.

Local medical staff had said that they would not feel comfortable using the shots, he said, adding that a new batch of vaccine shots arrived on Monday perfectly cooled and that the vaccination campaign started one day late.

ALSO READ: Europe rushes to boost vaccine output to advance pandemic exit

Meanwhile, Germany is facing a growing threat of attacks by right-wing militants who deny the existence of the pandemic and its health risks, a senior security official said Monday.

“The apocalyptic thinking of conspiracy myth supporters is mixing with right-wing extremism,” Burkhard Freier, head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in North Rhine-Westphalian state, told Tagesspiegel newspaper. 

This means that coronavirus deniers could also opt for “terror as a consequence”, Freier said.

Germany has recorded several hundred coronavirus-related deaths each day in the past few weeks. The number of fatalities rose by a further 848 in the 24 hours through Tuesday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, after having crossed the 30,000 mark for the first time on Sunday. Total cases in Europe’s biggest economy exceed 1.67 million.

Global tally

Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 81.2 million while the global death toll topped 1.77 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

A man holding illuminated balloons is pictured standing in front of the London Eye in London, Britain, Dec 28, 2020. Millions more people moved to harsher coronavirus restrictions as the new tier changes came into force over much of England. (VICTORIA JONES / PA VIA AP)

Switzerland

Hundreds of Britons have fled quarantine in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier, with the country’s health minister attributing the exodus to an “impossible situation” where authorities moved at short-notice to contain a new variant of the coronavirus.

Swiss media reported on Sunday that about 200 British citizens left Verbier before the end of a 10-day quarantine.

READ MORE: British skiers flee Swiss quarantine, destination unknown

South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday that the country would return to level three lockdown with immediate effect, after more than 50,000 COVID-19 infections were reported since Christmas Eve.

"The number of new coronavirus infections is climbing at an unprecedented rate," Ramaphosa said in his televised address.

Outdoor and indoor gatherings which have been identified as super-spreaders are now banned. Only funerals with only 50 people would be permitted. 

Ramaphosa said a countrywide curfew would be extended from 9 pm to 6 am. Businesses such as restaurants and bars would all close at 8 pm.

The new measures would be in place until Jan 15.

As of Dec 28, South Africa has recorded 1,011,871 confirmed cases and 27,071 deaths.  

Zambia 

Zambia on Tuesday surpassed the 20,000 mark in cumulative COVID-19 cases as the country starts feeling the effect of the second wave.

According to figures released by the Zambia National Public Health Institute in its daily update, the country recorded 234 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative cases to 20,177.

The cases were picked from 4,884 tests conducted during the period.

Brazil

Brazil registered 20,548 new COVID-19 cases in the past day, taking the national count to 7,504,833, the health ministry said Monday.

The death toll rose to 191,570 after 431 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, said the ministry.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in the country, has been the hardest-hit with 1,427,752 cases and 45,902 deaths. 

Meanwhile, Vice-President Hamilton Mourao is taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as part of an unproven treatment after contracting the coronavirus, his office said on Monday.

In a statement, Mourao’s office said the vice-president’s health is “good” and he is continuing to self-isolate at his official residence in Brasilia..

France

France on Monday reported 363 COVID-19 deaths, a sign of no improvement of the epidemic situation, which has raised the perspective of a third lockdown, probably at the regional level, after holiday seasons.

The country has registered over 2.56 million cases and 63,109 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to official data. The number of new cases dropped to 2,960 on Monday, but that is due to the closure of many scanning places during the weekend.

A total of 24,678 patients are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 infection, up by 25 compared to Sunday. Meanwhile, 2,703 remain in intensive care units, up by 44.

President Emmanuel Macron and some senior cabinet ministers will review the COVID-19 situation on Wednesday, the Elysee said on Monday, amid another surge in cases that has spurred fears of a third lockdown in France.

READ MORE: Despite hi-tech advances, many Europeans wary of taking shot

Ethiopia

Ethiopia will launch a face mask wearing campaign in the first weeks of 2021 as part of renewed anti-COVID-19 efforts, the Ethiopia Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) announced on Monday.

FMoH said the campaign is aimed at reviving the waning habit of wearing face masks in public.

The ministry on Monday reported 281 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the nation to 123,145.

Deaths rose by three to 1,912, according to the ministry. 

So far, a total of 109,846 patients had recovered, the ministry said, adding that there were some 11,385 active cases, of which 231 patients were said to be in severe conditions.

Cuba

Cuba will reduce the number of entries of travelers from the United States and some Latin American and Caribbean countries starting from Jan 1 due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, health officials announced on Monday.

National Director of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba (MINSAP), Francisco Duran Garcia, listed the nations included as the United States, Mexico, Panama, the Bahamas, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

In addition, the government will require all international travelers to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours starting from Jan 10.

The announcement came as the MINSAP reported 229 new cases, bringing Cuba's infection tally to 11,434, including 143 deaths.

Novavax

The Phase 3 trial of another investigational COVID-19 vaccine has begun enrolling adult volunteers, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Monday.

The randomized, placebo-controlled trial will enroll approximately 30,000 people at approximately 115 sites in the US and Mexico.

It will evaluate the safety and efficacy of NVX-CoV2373, a vaccine candidate developed by biotechnology company Novavax, Inc.

Africa tally

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African continent reached 2,662,664 while the death toll stood at 62,799 as of Monday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

Ukraine

Ukraine's Minister of Health Maxym Stepanov said on Monday that despite a decrease in the number of new COVID-19 cases, the ministry does not recommend the abolition or postponement of a strict quarantine from Jan 8 to Jan 24.

"The introduction of strict quarantine from Jan. 8 to Jan. 24 is necessary to unload the medical system. In addition to the projected increase in the number of COVID-19 cases after the New Year holidays, we also see a seasonal increase in influenza starting in late January and February... Therefore, it is essential for us to approach this stage with a minimum number of COVID-19 patients so that our medical system works," said Stepanov.

Stepanov stressed that a significant drop in the number of coronavirus cases is the result of anti-epidemic measures introduced in Ukraine, including the "weekend" quarantine.

According to the ministry, a total of 1,030,374 COVID-19 cases and 17,849 deaths have been reported in Ukraine as of Monday, while 665,729 patients have recovered. 

Colombia

Colombia  recorded 9,310 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 1,603,807, health authorities said on Monday.

Meanwhile, 203 more deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 42,374, the authorities said.

Argentina

Argentina became the third country worldwide to begin inoculating its citizens against COVID-19 with the Sputnik V vaccine outside of trials, providing a boost to Russia’s attempts to push the shot into developing nations.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Monday called on all residents to reflect while noting "so much carelessness" during social gatherings held for end of year celebrations amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"We must understand that the virus is still circulating among us," he told the state news agency Telam.

"This Christmas I saw so much carelessness in squares and other places. I call on all of you to reflect. The problem has not been overcome here or anywhere else in the world," he said, emphasizing that the population must be more vigilant in order to avoid the spread of the disease.

Argentina registered 7,216 new cases and 218 deaths on Monday, bringing the tally to 1,590,513 and the toll to 42,868, the Ministry of Health said.

According to the ministry, there were 132,965 active cases and 3,319 people were hospitalized in intensive care units.

Ecuador

Ecuadorian authorities on Monday called on the population to comply with the government's emergency measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 during holidays.

Under a 30-day state of emergency declared on Dec 21, there is a nighttime curfew, the sale of alcohol is banned and mobility is restricted for a period of 15 days, in a bid to discourage Christmas and New Year revelry.

"The impact of the measures will not be seen now ... in mid-January we can make a more precise evaluation of the control of the measures," Minister of Health Juan Carlos Zevallos said. "We want to avoid a catastrophe ... in January," Zevallos added.

The remarks came on a day the Ministry of Health reported 403 new cases, raising the total caseload to 209,758.

The death toll stands at 13,994, including 9,441 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 4,553 deaths suspected of being the virus related but were not verified through testing.

US

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he’s concerned that January virus levels in the US may be worse than December’s. In the past, Fauci has said he fears “a surge upon a surge” may be on the way after the Christmas and New Year’s period.

The United States on Monday started administering the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to people in long-term care facilities (LTCF).

States including Utah, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and Georgia began rolling out the vaccines to LTCF residents and staff.

The move came as COVID-19 hospitalizations in the US reached new highs, testing the nation’s healthcare workforce.

Health officials on Tuesday likely will announce an extension of the regional stay-at-home order in place for Southern California as a surge in cases has overwhelmed hospitals and left few, if any, intensive-care unit beds left available, Governor Gavin Newsom said.

Los Angeles County has been seeing 12,000 to 15,000 new cases per day over the past few weeks, Newsom said Monday.

On average, nine to 10 people in the county currently test positive for COVID-19 every minute, local health officials said.

The county's Department of Public Health reported 13,661 new COVID-19 infections and 73 more deaths in a daily release, pushing its cumulative cases up to 733,325 with 9,555 related deaths, while officials estimated there were delayed reportings of additional 432 deaths due to outages and the holiday weekend.

Nationwide, the US has reported over 19.2 million confirmed cases and more than 334,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

READ MORE: US House approves US$2,000 virus aid checks sought by Trump

Spain

Spain will create a register of people who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine, part of European efforts to counter public resistance to the new shots.

While the register will be shared with other European partners, it won’t be made public, Health Minister Salvador Illa said in an interview with La Sexta television on Monday. Taking the vaccine is voluntary in Spain and the data will be “treated with the utmost respect for data protection,” Illa said.

On Monday, Spain became the fourth European country to record more than 50,000 coronavirus deaths. 

Fatalities from the disease reached 50,122, according to Health Ministry figures. A total of 408 people have died from the virus in the past week. Cases diagnosed over the last 24 hours amounted to 2,822, bringing the total to 1.88 million.

The number of people dying from the virus has been slowing since November, according to Fernando Simon, the head of Spain’s medical emergency response center. However, data gathered over the holiday period can have gaps in reporting, he said at a press conference.

The infection rate is higher than desired, but recent data suggests that the number of cases is stabilizing, as are hospitalizations, Simon said.

Georgia 

Georgia reported 2,012 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing its total to 224,155, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health said.

Among the new cases, 837 were confirmed in the capital city of Tbilisi, it said.

As of Tuesday, 208,951 patients have recovered, while 2,443 others have died, said the center.

Pedestrians wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus take photos in front a Christmas decoration in downtown Madrid, Spain, Dec 28, 2020. (BERNAT ARMANGUE / AP)

Hungary

Hungary has received 6,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik coronavirus vaccine, according to Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

The vaccines will be transported to Hungary’s National Health Center, where officials “will get another opportunity to decide” how to deploy them, Szijjarto said on Monday on Facebook.

Hungary, a European Union member that began vaccinating hospital workers over the weekend with the shot developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, hasn’t yet cleared the Russian vaccine, though Prime Minister Viktor Orban has indicated that his cabinet may sidestep EU regulators to grant it emergency approval.

Russia

Russia reported 27,002 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, including 5,641 in Moscow, taking the tally to 3,105,037.

Authorities also reported 562 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 55,827.

Russia reported Monday a record 35,645 deaths of people with COVID-19 in November, a 46 percent jump from the previous month as the second wave of the pandemic pressures the country’s health-care system.

The numbers published by the State Statistic Service were more than three times the coronavirus toll based on the government virus-response office’s data.

Meanwhile, Russia extended a ban on flights from the UK until Jan 12 to keep the new strain of coronavirus from spreading, according to a statement from the government’s virus-response center. The initial ban, introduced Dec 22, was for seven days.

Mexico

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that he’ll allow private companies to import and sell the COVID-19 vaccine. 

The president said the Pfizer vaccine would be targeted at healthcare workers, which he expects will all be vaccinated in January. The elderly would then begin receiving single-dose shots from companies like CanSino.

Mexico’s health ministry on Monday reported 5,996 new cases and 429 additional fatalities, bringing country's totals to 1,389,430 cases and 122,855 deaths.

A man wearing headphones, right, reads as he waits in line to refill an oxygen tank for a family member infected with COVID-19 in Mexico City, Dec, 27, 2020. (GINNETTE RIQUELME / AP)

Norway

Travelers arriving in Norway can leave quarantine after seven days at the earliest if they test negative for COVID-19 twice after arrival, the Health and Care Services Ministry said in a statement published on the government’s website. 

The first test must be taken within three days of arrival and the second no earlier than seven days after arrival.

Chile

Chile registered a 28 percent increase in the number of new COVID-19 infections in the past two weeks, the Ministry of Health said Monday.

Tests detected 1,923 new cases of infection in the previous 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 602,028, including 16,443 deaths.

Chile has been testing incoming travelers for COVID-19 in the last 14 days to detect potential carriers of the new variant of the coronavirus found in the United Kingdom and other parts of the globe, Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza said at a press conference.

For the moment, authorities have ruled out closing the borders to foreigners, she added.

Chile began vaccinating essential healthcare workers on Dec 24. More than 8,600 hospital staff members in the Metropolitan region, where the capital Santiago is located, and hard-hit southern regions have been inoculated.

Italy

Italy's coronavirus infection and mortality rates continued to show improvement as the country approached the halfway point in its nationwide holiday lockdown.

On Monday, the country recorded 8,585 new infections, down from 8,913 a day earlier. The back-to-back totals represented the first time the infection rate was below 10,000 on consecutive days since Oct 14-15, with Monday's new infections nearly one-fifth of the country's all-time peak of 40,896 on Nov 13.

Meanwhile, another 445 deaths were registered over the 24-hour period ending Monday. It was the third consecutive day with fewer than 500 deaths, a level seen just three times in the previous 50 days.

Other coronavirus indicators improved as well: the total number of active cases in the country declined by more than 6,500 to just over 575,000, while there were 2,565 people in intensive care units, 15 fewer than a day earlier.