The United States, India and Brazil lead in terms of the number of registered coronavirus infections, while the largest number of COVID-19-related deaths has been observed in the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The European Commission has authorised the vaccine against coronavirus developed by the US pharmaceutical company Moderna, which has become the second COVID-19 vaccine approved by the bloc.
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LONDON (Sputnik) - England will require all travelers, including UK citizens, to present a negative COVID-19 test up to 72 hours before departure starting from next week, the United Kingdom’s Department for Transport said on Friday.
"All international arrivals to England, including UK nationals, required to present a negative COVID-19 test taken up to 72 hours prior to departure. Passengers will be subject to an immediate fine of £500 [$677] if they fail to comply with the new regulations on pre-departure testing," the department said in a press release.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said that the spread of new strains of coronavirus requires the country to impose additional restrictions.
ROME (Sputnik) - Italy’s drug regulator AIFA on Thursday granted a license to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by US firm Moderna a day after the jab got approval from the central EU agency.
According to a statement from AIFA, the vaccine can be administered to people over 18 years of age in two shots 28 days apart.
This makes it the second vaccine approved in Italy after the Pfizer/BioNTech got the go-ahead in December.
The approval of the second COVID-19 vaccine was welcomed by Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza.
"From today we have an additional tool for our vaccination campaign into which we are investing every energy," he said in a statement.
PARIS (Sputnik) - French Health Minister Olivier Veran said Thursday that 19 cases of infection with a mutated strain of coronavirus first found in the United Kingdom had been confirmed in the country.
"To date, we have identified 19 cases of the virus being in circulation in the national territory, including two in the at-risk clusters of Ile-de-France and Brittany," he told a news conference.
Veran said France was on lookout for the UK and South African variants of the virus. He added that his ministry had limited information on the South African strain, of which France had registered three cases.
The French government may have to tighten coronavirus restrictions amid increasing pressure on its hospital system, Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday.
"We will not only keep the measures already in place … but will be ready to toughen them the moment we see that it is necessary," Castex told a news conference.
He warned that the second wave was ongoing. All businesses closed and activities cancelled — restaurants, museums, cinemas, theatres, sports events — will stay that way until the end of the month.
The border with the United Kingdom will remain closed until further notice, the prime minister said. France shut the border on December 20 after a fast-spreading strain was discovered in the UK.
Health Minister Olivier Veran told reporters that all laboratories had been tasked with tracing the mutated strains in France.
"We take the threat coming from the British and South African variants very seriously and we are taking every measure to prevent these variants from spreading across the national territory," Veran said.
Certain categories of travellers allowed to come to France from the UK, but also from South Africa, will be required to present a negative COVID-19 test result, the health minister said.
Russia has conducted more than 92.6 million tests for the coronavirus disease since the beginning of the pandemic, the country's public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said Thursday.
"As of 07.01.2021, over 92.6 million laboratory tests for the novel coronavirus disease have been made. Testing is currently available in 975 laboratories, 111 of them are Rospotrebnadzor's laboratories, 864 are part of state medical facilities and 205 laboratories are owned privately", the watchdog said in a statement.
According to Rospotrebnadzor, any laboratory has the right to tests for COVID-19 as long as it notifies the watchdog's federal hygiene and epidemiology centre and then informs Rospotrebnadzor about positive tests.
Some 787,000 Americans filed for jobless benefits in the week ending on 2 January, a number that barely changed from the one reported the week before, the Labour Department said in a news release on Thursday.
"In the week ending 2 January, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 787,000", the release said.
The Labour Department reported the number of claims in the week ending on 26 December to be 790,000, which reflects a decrease in the latest week’s claims by 3,000, or 0.4 percent.
Some analysts have said the decrease could be due to a year-end flux in data gathering.
"There have been some small signs of improvement in the past two weeks but it's tough to tell if that's real or a result of holidays", Adam Button, analyst at ForexLive, said.
Continuing weekly claims, reported with a one-week lag but sometimes considered a better gauge of the labor market, also fell to 5.1 million from a previous 5.2 million. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, was at 3.5 percent, unchanged from the previous week’s revised rate.
The United States lost more than 21 million jobs between March and April at the height of lockdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic. A rebound of 2.5 million jobs was logged in May and 4.8 million in June, but the gains slowed in September and October with less than 700,000 jobs added each month. In November, there were just 245,000 additions.
Morocco has decided to extend its health emergency until 10 February to halt the spread of the coronavirus, the government said Thursday.
The government previously extended the emergency to 10 January in early December.
"During a Thursday meeting in Rabat, the government decided to extend the health emergency nationwide until 10 February 2021", the government said in a statement.
Starting 23 December, a nationwide curfew from 20:00 to 5:00 GMT was introduced. Celebrations, public or private gatherings are banned as well. Restaurants, cafes, shops and malls work until 19:00 GMT.
Morocco has confirmed a total of over 447,000 cases of COVID-19, including 7,618 fatalities.
Israel received the first batch of US pharma company Moderna's coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, state-run Kan broadcaster reported.
According to the broadcaster, the aircraft carrying 120,000 doses of the vaccine landed at Ben Gurion international airport earlier in the day. The broadcaster showed the footage of aircraft unloading.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that the first shipment of Moderna vaccines was due to arrive in Israel on Thursday. The Israeli Health Ministry previously authorized the vaccine by Moderna and the country expects to receive 6 million doses.
Moderna's vaccine has already been authorized by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
The mass vaccination campaign in Israel kicked off on 20 December, 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.
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 is waiting for an approval from the health ministry for its use.
Spain will receive the first batch of the coronavirus vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical company Moderna in 7-10 days, Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Thursday.
"According to the information provided by the company, in the next 7-10 days we will start receiving doses of this vaccine ... The signed contracts prescribe that in the next six weeks we will receive 600,000 doses", Illa said at a press conference.
Moderna will become the second COVID-19 vaccine available to Spain. The authorities have so far distributed 744,000 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine among various autonomous communities, but the vaccination process is slow and just over 139,000 vaccinations have been made since December 27.
The country's vaccination process is divided into four stages: during the first one, the vaccine will be given to residents and staff of nursing homes and facilities for handicapped people as well as medical personnel.
The new UK coronavirus strain has been detected in patients and staff at the district hospital of the central Latvian town of Ogre, hospital head Dainis Sirovs said Thursday.
There have been no prior reports about patients infected with the new strain in the country.
"At the Ogre hospital, we have detected both medical staff as well as patients, who are infected with the new variant of the COVID-19 virus, which is more contagious", Sirovs told journalists, without specifying the number of cases.
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.
The Czech Republic has confirmed 17,668 new daily COVID-19 cases, hitting the second successive record, the health ministry said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the republic reported its first record spike in coronavirus cases since 30 December, with 17,278 new infections having been registered.
"Over the past 24 hours, the republic has registered a record increase in the number of new COVID-19 patients for the period of the pandemic – 17,668 people," the ministry said.
The ministry added there was a record number of 132,725 COVID-19 patients in the country and 7,143 people were hospitalized, including 1,061 patients in critical condition.
The Czech health ministry has confirmed over 794,700 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. The recent spike in coronavirus infections made the country's government extend the state of emergency until 22 January. To contain the virus, the republic imposed a curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., limited public gatherings to six people, closed hotels and food services, except for essential shops.
The UK-linked coronavirus variant, which is much more transmissible than the original one, has been detected in 22 European countries, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said on Thursday.
"Like all viruses ... the COVID-19 virus has changed overtime. I do understand the concern about a possible impact of SARS CoV-2 ... 22 counties in the European region have detected this new variant," Kluge said at a briefing.
He admitted that the new variant is spreading faster than other SARS-CoV-2 variants, although it does not seem to be more pathogenic. Kluge also said the new mutation is spreading across all age groups, adding that children are not at high risk.
Indian biotechnology company Bharat Biotech announced Thursday having completed volunteer enrollment for Phase 3 clinical trials of India's first domestically developed vaccine against the coronavirus, Covaxin.
"Announcing successful completion of volunteer enrollment for Phase-3 Clinical trials of COVAXINᵀᴹ," the company tweeted.
According to an official statement, the trial involved 25,800 volunteers.
In the statement, Bharat Biotech Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella thanked clinical trial sites, principal investigators and health care workers for their support and trust.
"My deep appreciation to all the volunteers for reposing trust and expressing Pro Vaccine Public Health Volunteerism in the Phase 3 Clinical Trials of India's 1st fully indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine. Thank you, India!" the director concluded.
India has the second-highest number of COVID-19 infections in the world after the United States, with over 10.3 million cases in total and more than 150,000 fatalities.
"We're putting in the extra resources to make sure that the NHS gets the support it needs in the parts of the country where it's under the most significant pressure," health minister Matt Hancock said.
"For instance in London, (we're) making sure that the Nightingale hospital is on standby and there, if needed. And if it is needed, of course, then it will be used," he added.
Russia's coronavirus tally has increased by 23,541 cases recorded over the past 24 hours, slightly down from the 24,217 registered the day before, the government's coronavirus response centre said in an update on Thursday.
"Over the past day, 23,541 coronavirus cases were confirmed across 85 Russian regions, including 2,681 cases (11.4 percent) without clinical symptoms," the centre said.
The highest local daily increases were confirmed in Moscow (4,871), St. Petersburg (3,005) and the Moscow Region (1,228), as stated in the update.
Russia's cumulative case count has now reached 3,332,142 cases, with the rate of increase at 0.7 percent, according to the center.
The death toll has reached 60,457, with an increase of 506 over the past day, up from 445 from the day before. Moscow and St.Petersburg reported highest daily increase in coronavirus-related fatalities — 76 and 69 respectively.
Total recoveries count 2,709,452 as 23,729 more people were discharged from hospitals over the past day, up from 23,055 from the day before.
"Bayer will contribute its expertise and established infrastructure in areas such as clinical operations, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, medical information, supply chain performance as well as support in selected countries," companies said.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday declared the second state of emergency that will stay in force until 7 February in the Japanese prefectures of Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama due to a rapid spike in COVID-19 cases registered in the country.
On Wednesday, Japan confirmed a new daily record of 6,004 COVID-19 infections registered over the past 24 hours, with 1,591 new cases recorded in Tokyo. Japanese think tanks suggested that the announcement of a state of emergency in the country may result in an up to 0.88 percent contraction of the economy and the loss of 75,000 jobs.
"It will stay in force from 8 January to 7 February in the prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, in Tokyo and in the prefecture of Kanagawa," the prime minister said at the meeting of the COVID-19 response headquarters.
Under the state of emergency, all bars and restaurants will be obliged to close at 8 p.m. The country's government has pledged to allocate compensatory funds to the businesses that will adhere to the restrictions. Japanese entities will have to encourage their employees to work from home, while mass gathering will be limited to 5,000 people.
The previous state of emergency was declared in Japan in early April and was lifted on 25 May.
