global pandemic update

New reports, new measures and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.

Vaccines in UK Tuesday, coming soon to Canada

In the UK, the first doses of the vaccine will begin to be administered in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on Tuesday. The majority of the population will have to wait until 2021.

In Canada, the American-German pharmaceutical duo Pfizer / BioNTech “will deliver“by the end of the month up to 249,000 doses of its candidate vaccine, announced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the first vaccinations should take place a few days later.

In India, the Serum Institute of India (SII) urgently requested authorization to manufacture the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca / Oxford.

Southern California confined

More than 20 million people living in Southern California enter confinement for three weeks on Monday. Residents are called to stay at home, most offices are closed and meetings of people from different homes prohibited.

Greece: prolonged confinement

Greece is extending its main containment measures until January 7, including the closure of schools.

Denmark: closing of colleges, high schools, restaurants

Colleges, high schools, bars, cafes and restaurants will close in 38 Danish municipalities, including Copenhagen and the country’s two other largest cities.

The family of Crown Prince Frederik has been placed in quarantine after the positive diagnosis of his eldest son Prince Christian.

Germany: lack of ebb, restrictions in sight

Germany, long cited as an example for its management of the crisis, is struggling to stem the second wave and is preparing in the most affected regions to tighten restrictions.

France: the milestone of 5,000 cases in mid-December is moving away

France, which records an average of 10,000 new cases per day, remains far from the target of less than 5,000 daily contaminations set by President Emmanuel Macron to lift the containment in mid-December.

“We are still at a high risk of an epidemic rebound“, warned the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon.

Reconfinement in the West Bank

In the occupied West Bank, the government has announced that it will restore a weeklong general lockdown in four of the eleven provinces.

Austria deconfines

Austria eased restrictions on Mondays, reopening stores, schools and museums after three weeks of strict containment, while calling for caution while contaminations remain high.

More than 1.53 million dead

The pandemic has killed more than 1.53 million people worldwide since the end of December, according to a report established by AFP on Monday at 11:00 GMT. Some 67 million cases have been officially recorded, of which more than 42.6 million have been cured.

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