Currently, among the most affected nations are the US (19.5 million infected, 338,000 deaths), India (10.2 million cases, 148,000 fatalities), and Brazil (7.5 million cases, and a death toll of over 192,000).
A number of countries have decided to further extend the suspension of air traffic with the United Kingdom over fears of a new coronavirus mutation discovered there.
Follow Sputnik's feed to find out more.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Tokyo metropolitan government is going to ask on Saturday the national authorities to declare a state of emergency for the city over the rising number of new coronavirus cases, Japanese media reported.
Tokyo’s bid will be supported by the neighboring prefecture of Saitama, the NHK broadcaster reported citing its sources.
ANKARA (Sputnik) – Turkey has recorded 15 cases of the new strain of the coronavirus, which was firstly detected in the United Kingdom, National Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said.
“15 people, who had arrived from the United Kingdom, have been diagnosed with the UK mutation of the coronavirus. The travels from this country to Turkey are temporarily banned,” the minister said in a statement on late Friday.
The Russian capital of Moscow has endured the coronavirus pandemic due to huge resources allocated to provide proper health care service to its residents, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Friday.
"Such megacities as, particularly, Moscow were exposed to the pandemic, the risks of the pandemic. The fact that Moscow has endured, provided proper health care service to all Moscow's residents, means a lot. Of course, huge forces, resources have been concentrated there for this," Sobyanin told the Rossiya 1 broadcaster.
The mayor added that roughly 100,000 people had already registered for the vaccination against COVID-19 in Moscow, with 50,000 people having been inoculated.
"In recent days, over 10,000 people register every day. As of today, roughly 100,000 people have registered and 50,000 have been inoculated. This is on New Year's eve, and what will be after? I believe that the activity will increase even more, and this is great because it is so important to understand that we will not eliminate the pandemic without the vaccination," Sobyanin said.
The number of cases of the novel coronavirus disease in the United States has reached 20,007,149, with 346,043 fatalities, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from federal and local authorities, media and other sources.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world. The majority of COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the US states of California that has reported 2.3 million infections, Texas (1.77 million), Florida (1.32 million), New York (979,000) and Illinois (963,000).
According to the latest data, the US has registered cases of the new strain of the coronavirus, earlier discovered in the UK, in the states of California, Colorado and Florida.
German biotechnology company BioNTech is working with its US partner Pfizer on boosting the production of their vaccine against the coronavirus disease, CEO Ugur Sahin said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine.
"Currently, it does not look rosy, there is a certain gap as there are no other registered vaccines and we have to fill the gap with our vaccine. That is why we and Pfizer are working on figuring out if we can produce more and how to do it," Sahin said, adding that by late January the situation will be clear.
The CEO added that the company was looking for partners that could manufacture the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, adding that there is limited capacity to produce a vaccine of the required quality. Sahin also expressed confidence that Germany would receive enough vaccines.
"But we are doing everything to produce more, including in Germany. Our new production line in Marburg could perhaps be ready in February, far earlier than scheduled, and produce 250 million vaccines in the first six months," Sahin said.
BioNTech Chief Medical Officer Ozlem Tureci, in the same interview with Der Spiegel, said that five European manufacturers are currently producing the company's vaccine while negotiations with potential producers of the vaccine's components are underway.
Late last week, the EU started its vaccination campaign using the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
Fifteen French departments that have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic will enforce the curfew two hours earlier than the rest of the country, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Friday.
France introduced a lockdown to stop the second wave of COVID-19 on October 30. On December 15, the measure was replaced by a curfew that lasts from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. According to the spokesman, the new curfew will begin at 6 p.m. starting Saturday in 15 departments, including Alpes-Maritimes, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Saone-et-Loire and Moselle.
"This as a complicated decision ... We will study the effect of this extended curfew in 15 departments after a week," Attal said in an interview with the TF1 broadcaster.
The spokesman also ruled out reopening of cultural facilities as the virus continues spreading.
The number of persons infected with the new strain of the coronavirus, previously found in the UK, has reached almost 30 in India, the country's health ministry said Friday.
In late December, the United Kingdom identified a new variant of the coronavirus that is 70 percent more transmissible than other SARS-CoV-2 virus strains.
According to the ministry, India now has 29 cases of the new strain.
India has also confirmed a total of over 10,286,709 COVID-19 cases, including 148,994 fatalities.
The Estonian government has resumed air traffic with the United Kingdom since January 1, with extra COVID-19 related restrictions being imposed on passengers arriving from the UK.
On December 20, Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas said that the country would suspend air traffic with the UK until 2021, following the discovery of the new COVID-19 strain in the United Kingdom.
"The government has adopted the rules, according to which, it is possible to enter Estonia from the United Kingdom only if SARS-CoV-2 test is passed within 72 hours before a trip and its result is negative," the government's statement said on Thursday, stressing that this rule did not apply to children under 10 years.
According to the statement, the passengers, arriving from the UK, should self-isolate for 14 days. The self-isolation period may be reduced, provided that a person receives a negative COVID-19 test on the seventh day of self-isolation.
The government added that the passengers, who did not manage to pass a COVID-19 test within 72 hours ahead of their arrival to Estonia, could take the test upon landing.
The statement noted that these restrictions were not applicable to the persons who arrived in Estonia within frameworks of military cooperation, as well as to diplomats and people engaged in emergency management.
On December 14, the UK announced that a new coronavirus strain was detected in the country, with the new variant 70 percent more transmissible. After the news emerged, many countries suspended travel to and from the UK. Belgium, Bulgaria and France already announced the resumption of air traffic with the UK.
Israel has vaccinated 1 million people against COVID-19, which is over 10 percent of its more than 9.2 million residents, the government said on Friday.
The mass vaccination campaign in Israel kicked off on December 20, after the country had approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The priority groups to get inoculated include medical workers, students of medical schools, employees of geriatric institutions and government officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin have already got inoculated.
According to the government, the millionth Israeli to get vaccinated was Muhammad Jabarin in the Arab-populated city of Umm al-Fahm. Among those present during his inoculation was Netanyahu who used the opportunity to promise a return to some degree of normalcy after enough people are vaccinated.
"Once we reach a critical mass, when several million are vaccinated, we will be able to reopen trade, shops, restaurants, everything. One will be able to go abroad, do business and travel to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain," Netanyahu said, according to the government.
Apart from the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, Israel also has a vaccine purchasing deal with US company Moderna. Also it was reported that the Jerusalem-located Hadassah Medical Center had ordered 1.5 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and waiting for approval from the health ministry for its use.
The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Indian Health Ministry on Friday recommended the emergency use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, government sources told Sputnik.
In India, the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca/Oxford University is made by local producer Serum Institute and is known as Covishield.
According to sources, the SEC recommends emergency use on certain conditions.
Russia has registered 27,039 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 27,747 the day before, bringing the total to 3,186,336, the federal response centre said on Friday.
"Over the past 24 hours, 27,039 coronavirus cases were confirmed in 85 regions, including 4,080 cases (15.1 percent) without clinical symptoms," the centre said, adding that the cumulative case count has now reached 3,186,336 with the rate of increase at 0.9 percent.
Moscow confirmed 5,907 new coronavirus cases over the given period, down from 6,566 the day before. The Russian capital was followed by St. Petersburg with 3,746 cases, down from 3,758 the day before, and the Moscow Region with 1,568 new cases, up from 1,487 the day before.
The response centre reported 536 coronavirus fatalities, down from 593 the day before, raising the country's death toll to 57, 555.
Total recoveries count 2,580,138 after 25,798 people were discharged from hospitals over the past day, down from 28,922 the day before.
Moscow has registered 71 deaths of patients infected with COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian capital's death toll to 11,280, the city's coronavirus response centre said in a statement on Friday.
"Seventy-one patients tested positive for the coronavirus infection have died in Moscow," the centre said.
The Japanese government will put all its efforts to fight against the spread of COVID-19 in 2021 despite the challenging economic situation, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday in his New Year address.
"Amid the continuing spread of the new coronavirus and the difficult economic situation, first of all, the government will give all its efforts to contain the further spread of the infection," Suga said, and thanked health workers for their fight against COVID-19
The prime minister mentioned that Tokyo aims to host safe and successful Olympic Games, which were postponed last summer for one year in light of the pandemic.
"Suga's cabinet makes a firm promise to continue to protect the lives of the country's citizens, to direct all its energy to contain the infection and restore the economy," the prime minister added.
India has confirmed 20,035 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, with the total number of those infected having reached 10,286,709 , the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday.
The death toll from the disease has reached 148,994 people, with 256 new fatalities being recorded over the past day. More than 9.88 million people have recovered in India since the start of the outbreak.
A day earlier, the country confirmed 21,821 new cases of the coronavirus and 299 deaths.
India comes second in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, following the United States, with more than 19.9 million COVID-19 patients.
