The total number of coronavirus cases is over 75 million worldwide and the global death toll is over 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US is the worst-hit nation (almost 17.5 million cases, 310,000 deaths), with India (10 million infections, more than 144,000 fatalities), and Brazil (over 7 million cases, and a death toll of almost 185,000).
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States has confirmed a record of more than 400,000 new coronavirus cases over a 24-hour period, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest update.
According to CDC’s Saturday data, US states reported a total of 403,359 new cases confirmed on Friday.
The previous daily record high was reported by CDC on December 11 (244,011 new COVID-19 cases).
TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - All foreigners arriving in Israel, regardless of the coronavirus situation in their country of origin, will have to abide by a 14-day quarantine starting Sunday, the Israeli Ministry of Health has announced.
"Starting from 20.12.20 all foreign countries will be considered ‘red,’ and thus all people arriving from abroad will have to undergo a 14-day self-isolation," the health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Alternatively, arriving foreigners can also get tested for COVID-19 on the ninth day after their arrival and, if they get two negative test results, they will only be required to self-isolate for 10 days.
Israeli citizens who are currently abroad in the so-called "green" countries, where the level of coronavirus infections is low, will not be subject to quarantine measures upon arrival, provided that they return home before December 26. All Israelis arriving after that date will have to self-isolate, according to the health ministry.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The authorities of Scotland and Wales announced on Saturday toughening the coronavirus-related restrictions for the Christmas period as Tier 4 restrictions were already announced for parts of England earlier in the day.
Beginning from Sunday and until December 30, London, along with England's east and southeast, will go under the strictest bundle of COVID-19 restrictions, equivalent to a full lockdown, as announced by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday, despite earlier pledges not to lock down on Christmas. The unexpected restrictions came in response to the discovery of a new, mutated coronavirus strain that transmits faster and accounts for over half of all recently confirmed cases.
"I know this is tough. But this new virus strain is spreading much faster, and so we must act quickly to stop it taking hold. That means even tighter restrictions through January to prevent the serious situation currently faced by places like London & save lives," First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said on Twitter.
According to the official, as quoted in a statement on the Scottish government's website, Scotland will also go under Level 4 restrictions beginning from December 26 and for the next three weeks, except for the regions of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, as well as other island communities where restrictions were set at Tier 3 in recent weeks.
"The planned easing of restrictions around Christmas will be limited to Christmas Day itself, and not the previous 5 day window that was planned," the statement read.
Announcing the restrictions for Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford described the situation as "incredibly serious."
"We have therefore reached the difficult decision to bring forward the alert level four restrictions for Wales, in line with the action being taken in London and the South East of England. These new restrictions will come into effect from midnight tonight instead of during the Christmas period," Drakeford said in a statement, published on the Welsh government's website.
Two households will still be able to come together and form a so-called Christmas bubble, albeit not for five days, as previously ordered, but only for the single Christmas Day alone, according to the statement.
Level 4 restrictions are the strictest in the United Kingdom's four-tier scale. They include a closure of all retail businesses, except for grocery stores and essential services. Gyms, beauty industry businesses, entertainment services and cultural sites will all be closed as well.
Unless for essential reasons or legal obligations, people will be required to state at home and work from home, where applicable. Travel to and from affected areas will also be banned.
KIEV, (Sputnik) - Seventy people have sustained injuries of varying severity as a protest of entrepreneurs in Kiev against the coronavirus-related lockdown grew into clashes with the police, Sergey Dorotich, the head of the Union for Entrepreneurship Protection public organization, said on Saturday.
Ukrainian entrepreneurs took to the streets this past Tuesday to protest against the government's decision to impose a coronavirus-related lockdown from January 8-24 and extend the nationwide state of emergency until February 28. They tried to install a tent near the government buildings in downtown Kiev, but were prevented from doing so by the police and the national guard. Clashes ensued. The police said 40 officers had sustained injuries.
LONDON, (Sputnik) - Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty on Saturday called on the nation to remain vigilant as a recently discovered variant of coronavirus was rapidly spreading.
On Monday, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock announced the discovery of the new strain of the disease, which was reported in roughly 1,000 individuals in southern England.
"As a result of the rapid spread of the new variant, preliminary modelling data and rapidly rising incidence rates in the South East, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) now consider that the new strain can spread more quickly," Whitty said in a statement published by the UK government website.
The chief medical officer added that the World Health Organization (WHO) had already been alerted.
US Army General Gustave Perna has said in a press call that Moderna Inc has kicked off the distribution of its vaccine in the United States. Its delivery to more than 3,700 US locations is expected as early as Sunday, he added.
However, the general, who is the chief operations officer for Operation Warp Speed dealing with vaccine distribution, admitted that he had misjudged the availability of vaccines, which resulted in allocation confusion.
"This week, in total, between Pfizer and Moderna, we have allocated 7.9 million doses of vaccine."
He assured the press that there was no problem with vaccines or the production process, adding that some 20 million doses are expected by the end of the year. Some deliveries, however, are likely to be pushed to the first week of January.
According to BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, the rules related to household gatherings during the Christmas period are also expected to be tightened.
"The medical condition of the president is stable compared with Friday. He presents similar COVID-19 symptoms which do not prevent him from fulfilling his obligations", the president's office said in a statement.
"We are bitterly disappointed to cancel the race this year especially considering the plans and preparations we had put in place to have a COVID safe race", Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore Noel Cornish said in a statement.
"We were so well prepared to run the race and we're only six days from the start. This is the first time in 76 years that the race will not be conducted".
"According to the data assessed by the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, the level of protection afforded seven days after the second injection of the vaccine is over 90 percent. This represents the world's first authorisation in the ordinary procedure", drugs regulator Swissmedic said on its website.
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKIY, Russia (Sputnik) - A new vaccine being developed by Russia's Vector State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology that is expected to provide immunity from both COVID-19 and the measles is showing promise during preliminary animal-based trials, Rinat Maksyutov, the centre’s director, said on Saturday.
"A vaccine based on the recombinant measles virus against both the novel coronavirus and against the highly contagious measles disease is included in our state collection, and all strains have been obtained. The first studies have been carried out on laboratory animals and have shown that a strong immune response develops from a single shot", Maksyutov said.
"It will be over by spring, and if we put in the effort, maybe earlier. It depends on how people act today", Popova said.
"We are planning to vaccinate 60 percent of the population, the adult population", Murashko told the broadcaster Rossiya-1.
The health minister also expressed confidence that Russia's production capacity for vaccines will be sufficient to meet domestic need.
"Our production capacities are quite extensive at the present moment. We are confident that the production capacity will be sufficient to cover our country's needs", Murashko stated.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President-elect Joe Biden has called the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) emergency use approval of Moderna's vaccine against COVID-19, which was granted on Friday evening, a "milestone" in the country's efforts to combat the coronavirus disease pandemic.
"Today's emergency use authorization by the Food & Drug Administration of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is another milestone in our battle to overcome the crisis our country is facing today. The authorization of two vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and now Moderna, assures us that brighter days lie ahead", Biden said in a statement published online.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has confirmed 28,209 new positive tests for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, a slight decrease from the 28,552 new cases registered one day ago, the federal response centre said on Saturday, adding that the country's case total has topped 2.8 million.
"Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 28,209 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions, of which 5,310 (18.8 percent) were detected among people showing no clinical symptoms", the response centre said, adding that the case count has reached 2,819,429.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is probing roughly five instances of individuals having allergic reactions to Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine against COVID-19, Peter Marks, the director of the FDA's Centre for Biologics Evaluation and Research said.
"It's fair to say that there have been a few allergic reactions reported from different states of the union. I think that the total that are under investigation is roughly about five", Marks said during a media call late on Friday.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - The Chinese government will look to expedite the rollout of vaccines against COVID-19, with at-risk groups the first to be inoculated against the disease over winter and spring, Zeng Yixin, the deputy head of the Chinese National Health Commission, said on Saturday.
"Over recent days, everyone has noticed that several cases of infection have been associated with the supply of frozen goods. With the start of the winter-spring period, the air temperature is decreasing, which could make things more difficult. Therefore, based on the emergency use experience for the vaccine, we are expanding our efforts to vaccinate at-risk members of the population. This is extremely important for controlling the pandemic", Zeng said at a press briefing.
According to the health official, at-risk groups in China include customs inspectors, medical professionals, workers who handle imported frozen products, logistics workers, seafood market employees, and public transport staff.
Additionally, those who receive a vaccine against COVID-19 will still be required to wear protective masks and maintain social distance, Zeng noted.
"Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser issued Mayor’s Order 2020-127 to pause various activities in the District from 10 pm, on Wednesday [03:00 on Thursday, GMT], December 23, 2020 until Friday, January 15, 2021, at 5 am. Additionally, the Order extends the state of emergency and public health emergency for Washington, DC through March 31, 2021", the office said in a statement on late Friday.
