Coronavirus: Latest Global Developments

Paris, Dec 11 (AFP/APP): Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

WHO warns on holiday cheer

The World Health Organization warns people to think very carefully about their plans for the festive season, saying there has been a 60 percent increase worldwide in deaths from Covid-19 over the past six weeks.

US jabs by Monday?

The United States could start injecting the first Americans with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine by Monday, health secretary Alex Azar says. He comments come after an expert committee convened by the United States Food and Drug Administration votes heavily in favour of approving it for emergency use.

Sanofi, GSK shots delay

France’s Sanofi and Britain’s GSK say their protein-based vaccines will not be ready until the end of 2021, after interim results showed a low immune response in older adults.

UN chief lashes response

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres lashes out at the global response to Covid-19, describing it as “fragmented and chaotic…. We cannot let the same thing happen for access to new COVID-19 vaccines,” he says.

Over 1.58 million dead

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 1,582,721 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Friday. The US is the worst-affected country with 292,190 deaths, followed by Brazil with 179,765, India with 142,186 and Mexico with 112,326.

Acceleration in US, Canada

The virus spread fastest in the United States and Canada last week with a 19 percent increase in new cases, according to a specialised AFP database. Africa followed with a nine percent increase, while Europe has stabilised at a high infection rate with an average of 236,700 per day.

No indoor dining for NYC

New York City will stop indoor dining from next week, Governor Andrew Cuomo says, in the latest blow to the Big Apple’s famed restaurants and economy from the pandemic.

Catalan skiing

Amid a European row over whether ski resorts should operate during the pandemic, resorts in Spain’s Catalonia region that borders France say they will open next week.

Swiss shutdown

Switzerland announces that all shops, bars and restaurants must close from 7:00pm from Saturday until January 22.

Britain reduces quarantine

Britain says it is to cut its period of self-isolation from 14 to 10 days for travellers arriving from overseas and people who come into contact with positive coronavirus cases.

False positive

The test on Italy’s interior minister Luciana Lamorgese, who tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week, “turned out to be wrong”, her office says.

Genetic variants

Scientists say they have identified genetic variants that make patients more likely to develop severe Covid-19, in a breakthrough that could see new and existing drugs help patients survive the illness.

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