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Live Updates: Sturgeon Breaks With England to Announce Return to Lockdown Tiers in Scotland

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The global death toll from the coronavirus infection topped 2.47 million; over 111.7 million cases of the infection have been detected, according to Baltimore... 23.02.2021, Sputnik International

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Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon attends the First Ministers Questions, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak - Sputnik International

Live Updates: Sturgeon Breaks With England to Announce Return to Lockdown Tiers in Scotland

05:44 GMT 23.02.2021 (Updated: 14:36 GMT 23.02.2021)

The global death toll from the coronavirus infection topped 2.47 million; over 111.7 million cases of the infection have been detected, according to Baltimore, Maryland's Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from national and local authorities, the media and other sources.

The United States, India and Brazil have logged the highest overall numbers, followed by Russia, the United Kingdom and France, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Lockdowns are generally getting tighter in Europe because of the rapid progress of new coronavirus strains and a surge in the number of infections.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had outlined a four-stage plan for easing England's lockdown, starting 8 March. Legal limits on social contacts will be removed during the last state, which will happen no earlier than 21 June.

Follow Sputnik's feed to find out more.

Table of contents

18:18 GMT 23.02.2021

EU Countries Already Received Over 40Mln of COVID-19 Vaccine Doses, Official Says

17:35 GMT 23.02.2021

Merkel Offers to Hospitalise Czech COVID-19 Patients in Germany, Prime Minister Babis Says

16:29 GMT 23.02.2021

Medics Suspect S. African Strain of COVID-19 Reaching Czech Republic, Health Authority Says

16:07 GMT 23.02.2021

San Marino Receives 1st Batch of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine

15:39 GMT 23.02.2021

Afghanistan Rolls Out Mass Vaccination Campaign Against COVID-19 on Tuesday, Reports Say

14:38 GMT 23.02.2021

Lebanon's Vaccine Rollout in Peril as Politicians Reportedly Skip Line for Jab

14:23 GMT 23.02.2021

Scotland's First Minister Sturgeon Expects Phased But Significant Reopening of Economy in Late April

14:16 GMT 23.02.2021

Sri Lanka Orders Additional 13.5Mln Doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine, Reports Say

14:08 GMT 23.02.2021

Greece Reports Several Cases of Severe Allergic Reaction to Pfizer/BioNTech COVID Vaccine

13:03 GMT 23.02.2021

Sweden Registers 10,933 New COVID-19 Cases, 64 Deaths Since Friday

12:38 GMT 23.02.2021

Egypt Receives 300,000 Sinopharm Vaccine Doses as Gift From China

12:16 GMT 23.02.2021

Anthony Fauci Expects CDC to Soon Relax Some COVID Guidelines for People Who've Been Vaccinated

11:50 GMT 23.02.2021

Guyana Becomes 33rd Country to Approve Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine Sputnik V

11:25 GMT 23.02.2021

Mayor of French City of Dunkirk to Propose Ban on Public Gatherings

11:01 GMT 23.02.2021

Ukraine Receives 1st Batch of Covishield Vaccine, Reports Say

10:52 GMT 23.02.2021

UK PM Johnson Says He's Very Optimistic, But Doesn't Guarantee England Will Fully Re-Open on 21 June

09:16 GMT 23.02.2021

India Registers 10,584 New COVID-19 Cases

08:56 GMT 23.02.2021

Mongolia Launches Nationwide COVID-19 Vaccination, Reports Say

08:54 GMT 23.02.2021

German States Bordering France Reject Pandemic-Driven Border Closures, Germany's Minister for Europe Says

08:04 GMT 23.02.2021

Russia Records 11,823 COVID-19 Cases, 417 Deaths in Past Day

07:18 GMT 23.02.2021

We're Determined to Come Out of the Pandemic as Fast as Safely Possible, But no Faster, UK Health Secretary Hancock Says

06:23 GMT 23.02.2021

Japan May Keep COVID-19 State of Emergency Only in Metropolitan Areas, Reports Say

05:50 GMT 23.02.2021

Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine Against COVID-19 Registered in Kyrgyzstan

05:44 GMT 23.02.2021

Brazil Applies New COVID-19 Restrictions, Deaths Surpass 247,000

New firstOld first

18:17 GMT 23.02.2021

EU countries have already received approximately 40 million coronavirus vaccine doses, with another 300 million on their way, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on Tuesday.

"So far, 40.7 million doses of vaccines have reached our member states. We expect that an additional 300 million doses of three vaccines that are currently authorized in the EU to arrive in the second quarter of this year," Sefcovic said at a press conference.

The European Union started its vaccination campaign in late December and has already authorized the use of the vaccines by AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.

17:34 GMT 23.02.2021

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Tuesday that he held a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who offered hospital beds in Germany for Czech COVID-19 patients as a surge in cases strains hospitals in the country.

The most severe situation is currently in the Karlovy Vary and Usti nad Labem regions near the border with Germany. The COVID-19 incidence rate in the regions is three to four times higher than the national average. Due to the overcrowding of local hospitals, new patients are transported to hospitals in other Czech regions.

"It was an unplanned conversation. Merkel has offered additional places for our COVID-19 patients at hospitals in Bavaria or other German states, if necessary," Babis told reporters adding that Merkel also promised to check the availability of beds in German facilities.

Earlier in the day, authorities in the Karlovy Vary region, which has already transferred over 200 patients to other parts of the country, said that Germany's Saxony reaffirmed its readiness to receive nine Czech infected with the coronavirus.

The current number of active cases in the Czech Republic stands over 120,000, with 6,572 of them receiving treatment in hospitals. A total of 1,329 patients are in intensive care units, marking the highest-ever number of severe cases since the outbreak.

16:28 GMT 23.02.2021

Experts from a Czech national reference laboratory (NRL) on Tuesday received two samples possibly containing the South African strain of the coronavirus, which could have entered the country from the outside, the National Institute of Public Health said.

"The NRL has not yet confirmed that we have the South African strain of the coronavirus. We have information about two samples, one of which was prepared to be studied, while the other was not suited due to a low RNA concentration," the institute's spokesperson Klara Dolakova told journalists, adding that both are suspected to have arrived from abroad.

According to the spokesperson, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has already warned the national health agencies about a spike of mutated variants across Europe.

The mutated strain was first detected in South Africa last October and since then has spread to Europe. It is believed to be more contagious than the original coronavirus.

16:07 GMT 23.02.2021

The first batch of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, was delivered to San Marino on Tuesday, the Russian embassy in the Southern European microstate said.

San Marino became the 30th country to greenlight the Russian vaccine for emergency use earlier in February.

"The first batch of Sputnik V arrived in the Republic of San Marino on February 23. The agreement between the government of San Marino and the Russian Direct Investment Fund on the supply of the Russian vaccine has become another confirmation of the traditionally stable and constructive interaction between the two countries," the embassy told reporters.

To date, Sputnik V has been approved in 33 countries — Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, the UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska, Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon, San Marino, Ghana and Kyrgyzstan.

15:39 GMT 23.02.2021

Afghanistan on Tuesday launched its mass inoculation campaign against coronavirus, administering the Covishield vaccine — India's version of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine — primarily to security forces, medical and media workers, national media reported.

According to the 1TV News broadcaster, the country has received 500,000 doses of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India and will get more doses through the COVAX scheme, which are expected to cover 20 percent of the country's population.

"Today is a fortunate day for Afghanistan as we launch the first vaccination drive, but it would be a challenge to roll the plan to the whole country," acting Health Minister Waheed Majroh said during a ceremony in the presidential palace, as cited by the broadcaster.

Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani said that the authorities were currently making efforts to ensure that 40 percent of the population would be covered in a second round of the vaccination campaign.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Afghanistan has registered over 55,000 infections, including 2,435 fatalities.

14:37 GMT 23.02.2021

Over a dozen Lebanese parliamentarians and five staffers were accused of getting vaccinated out of their turn, causing an uproar and threatening to shut down the vaccination program in the country.

The World Bank funded two shipments of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to the country on the condition that the vaccines are distributed fairly without favouritism for the famously corrupt politicians. Fears are mounting that the World Bank may pull the program amid the scandal.

According to the L’Orient Today newspaper, Parliament’s secretary-general Adnan Daher confirmed that 16 elderly parliament members were vaccinated out of their turn, but defended the move as approved by the health ministry and the Lebanese Red Cross.

“Their names are on the official platform … and this [the inoculation] was done in the presence of representatives from the Health Ministry and the Lebanese Red Cross,” Daher said defending the move to vaccinate the MPs.

“We vaccinated them so we don’t overwhelm hospitals," he said.

Head of the COVID-19 Vaccination Committee, Abdul Rahman Bizri, initially said he would resign after the news broke, but later backtracked and said he would seek clarification over the matter, the newspaper reported.

A list of the lawmakers and staffers vaccinated shows that several are below the age of 75, in contrast to Daher’s statement that only the very elderly were vaccinated.

Lebanon’s vaccination program, completely dependent on the World Bank’s $34 million backing, began earlier this month and was reserved for the country’s health care workers and citizens over 75 years of age. Major concerns were voiced throughout that politicians and sectarian leaders may leverage influence to coopt the program and get inoculated out of line.

14:22 GMT 23.02.2021

Scotland's economy will start a "phased reopening" from the last week of April, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday.

14:15 GMT 23.02.2021

Sri Lanka has ordered 13.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine against the coronavirus in addition to 500,000 doses gifted by New Dehli, media reported on Tuesday, citing government spokesman Ramesh Pathirana.

According to the Times of India newspaper, 10 million doses of the vaccine have been ordered from the Serum Institute of India, which produces the AstraZeneca vaccine — Covieshield — and another 3.5 million doses directly from the UK-Swedish company through the COVAX facility.

The government spokesman also said that the island nation would use only this vaccine, as other producers had not yet submitted the necessary documents related to the trials.

Sri Lanka launched its mass vaccination campaign on January 29 after receiving the first 500,000 doses of the Covieshield vaccine from New Delhi.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic last year, the island nation has confirmed more than 80,500 cases of the virus, including 450 fatalities and over 75,100 recoveries, according to the national health authorities.

14:06 GMT 23.02.2021

A Greek Army medical personnel member works inside a vaccination booth during a media tour at a vaccination centre, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Athens, Greece, February 13, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920

Greek Vaccination Committee Confirms 5 Cases of Severe Side Effects From COVID-19 Shot

23 February 2021, 13:40 GMT

13:03 GMT 23.02.2021

12:37 GMT 23.02.2021

China has gifted 300,000 Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine doses to Egypt, Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Tuesday, after the batch arrived in Cairo.

"The health ministry received at the Cairo airport a batch of 300,000 doses of the vaccine of Chinese company Sinopharm, delivered as a gift from China within the framework of strong relationship between the two countries," Zayed said.

The ministry also announced that Egyptians will be able to electronically register for COVID-19 vaccination in the coming days. Elderly people and those with chronic diseases will be prioritized in the campaign, which has so far focused on health workers.

In December, the Arab republic received 50,000 gifted Sinopharm doses from the United Arab Emirates. Earlier, some 3,000 Egyptian volunteers took part in a clinical trial for the vaccine.

In total, Egypt has secured 100 million doses of various coronavirus vaccines, the health minister said last week.

The country has so far confirmed over 178,000 COVID-19 cases, including more than 10,000 deaths.

12:16 GMT 23.02.2021

11:50 GMT 23.02.2021

Russian vaccine against COVID-19 Sputnik-V (Gam-COVID-Vac) at the primary health care center No. 11 in Donetsk. - Sputnik International, 1920

Guyana Becomes 33rd Country to Approve Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine Sputnik V

23 February 2021, 11:40 GMT

11:23 GMT 23.02.2021

"We want absolutely no meetings, no public gatherings ... this is our last chance," Mayor Patrice Vergriete said.

11:01 GMT 23.02.2021

Ukraine has received the first batch of 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine from India, the Ukraina24 reported on Tuesday, citing the Boryspil international airport.

On Monday, the country approved the vaccine, produced in India under the brand name Covishield, for emergency use.

A day prior, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov traveled to India’s Pune to personally oversee the transportation of the long-anticipated vaccine bound to Ukraine.

10:49 GMT 23.02.2021

09:16 GMT 23.02.2021

08:56 GMT 23.02.2021

Mongolia has started a nationwide vaccination against the coronavirus, with country's Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene being the first to receive a shot, the state-owned Montsame news agency said on Tuesday.

According to the news outlet, the prime minister received the Covishield vaccine, the AstraZeneca variety developed and produced in India.

The agency stressed that all citizens of the country aged over 16 years would be immunized, and about two million Mongolians would receive their shots by July.

The Montsame added that Mongolia already received 150,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine and 300,000 doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine that were delivered to the country for free.

Mongolia has confirmed 2,723 COVID-19 cases, with two deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

08:50 GMT 23.02.2021

08:03 GMT 23.02.2021

Russia has logged 11,823 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 12,604 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,189,153, the coronavirus response centre said on Tuesday.

"Over the past day, 11,823 coronavirus cases were confirmed across 84 regions, including 1,312 cases (11.1 percent) that were detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the centre said.

Russia's cumulative case count has now reached 4,189,153, with the rate of increase at 0.3 percent.

The highest daily increases were confirmed in Moscow (1,198), St. Petersburg (913) and the Moscow Region (732).

The death toll has risen by 417, up from 337 the day before, to 84,047.

Over 3.7 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in Russia. A total of 12,956 patients, up from yesterday's 12,943, have been discharged from hospitals over the past day.

07:15 GMT 23.02.2021

"We're all absolutely determined to come out of this as fast as safely possible, but no faster," Matt Hancock said.

06:23 GMT 23.02.2021

Japan may scrap a pandemic-linked state of emergency in six prefectures ahead of schedule, leaving it in place only in metropolitan areas, media reported on Tuesday.

The state of emergency is currently in place in 10 prefectures until 7 March.

According to the Asahi newspaper, it can be canceled by late February in all but four metropolitan areas: Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba.

The government will reportedly decide on Wednesday to convene an expert committee on February 26 to cancel the emergency in Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Aichi, Gifu and Fukuoka by the end of the month.

The governors of Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto agreed at an online meeting earlier on Tuesday to send a proposal to the government to lift the state of emergency ahead of schedule.

The state of emergency involves shorter operating hours for restaurants, movie theaters, entertainment venues and some shops, a ban on public events and switch of 70 percent of employees to remote work. Under the current restrictions, schools remain open.

05:49 GMT 23.02.2021

Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine has been officially registered in Kyrgyzstan, the country's Health Ministry told Sputnik.

"The department of drugs and medical products under the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic issued a registration certificate for combined vector vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus Gam-COVID-Vac (Sputnik V)," a ministry spokesman said.

He said the vaccine registration would make it possible "in the near future to vaccinate the population to prevent coronavirus infection."

The first cases of coronavirus were recorded in Kyrgyzstan in early March 2020. To date, the number of cases has exceeded 86,000, with 1,460 deaths.

05:44 GMT 23.02.2021