Italy's Covid-19 toll tops 60,000 with 546 new deaths – latest updates

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Rudy Giuliani tests positive 

President Donald Trump says his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for coronavirus.

The president confirmed in a tweet that the former New York mayor had tested positive. Giuliani has traveled extensively to battleground states in recent weeks in an effort to help Trump subvert his election loss.

Trump wished Giuliani a speedy recovery.

“Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!!!” Trump wrote in his tweet.

Giuliani made an appearance earlier in the day on Fox News to speak about his legal challenges in several states on behalf of Trump.

Covid-19 death toll in Italy tops 60,000

Italy has reported 564 Covid-related deaths, down from 662 the day before and taking the official toll since its outbreak began in February to 60,078, according to the Health Ministry data.

The ministry also reported 18,887 new infections over the past 24 hours, down from 21,052 the day before.

Italy, the first Western country to be hit by the epidemic, becomes the sixth nation in the world to surpass 60,000 deaths and the second in Europe after Britain. 

It has also registered 1.728 million cases to date. 

Turkey records 30,402 daily cases with 195 deaths

Turkey has recorded 30,402 new cases, including asymptomatic ones, over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry data showed.

The Covid-19 death toll rose by 195 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 14,900, the ministry data also showed.

Turkey was on lockdown over the weekend to combat the recent surge in daily deaths, which hit a record of 196 on Saturday, and new infections. 

UK sees 231 new deaths

The United Kingdom has recorded 17,272 new cases of Covid-19, up from 15,539 a day earlier and raising the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to over 1,723 million, official data showed.

The country also recorded 231 deaths from the disease, down from 397 a day earlier, taking the total toll measured by the number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test to 61,245.

Pfizer seeks vaccine approval in India

US drug company Pfizer had applied to authorise its novel coronavirus vaccine in India, local media have reported.

Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported that the country's drug regulator received Pfizer's application to import, sell, and distribute its vaccine that it developed with German biotechnology partner BioNTech. 

It reportedly also sought a waiver for clinical trials in the country.

Meanwhile, public broadcaster Doordashan News tweeted: "#PfizerIndia seeks emergency use nod for #Covid19 vaccine from DCGI."

These came after the UK became the first country to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier this week.

Moscow aims to vaccinate 7M people

Moscow wants to vaccinate up to seven million people, its Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said, as Russia reported yet another record high number of new Covid-19 cases.

Moscow began distributing its Sputnik V Covid-19 shot via 70 clinics on Saturday to the most exposed groups, marking Russia's first large-scale vaccination against the disease.

"In prospect, we have to vaccinate six to seven million people," Sobyanin told state TV Rossiya-1 in an interview published on Sunday.

Eight test positive for virus in Chinese city

Eight people in the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli have coronavirus after everyone in the city was tested following the discovery of two locally acquired infections, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Authorities conducted nucleic acid tests on 203,378 people in the city on the border with Mongolia in two rounds starting November 22 and November 27.

The city had 24 locally acquired cases, Xinhua said. It said 1,239 people who had close contact with them were under medical observation.

Spanish residents divided on taking vaccine

As Spain is planning to vaccinate the population against Covid-19 in 2021, Spanish people are divided on whether the vaccine is safe to take.

Pending approval, Spain's vaccination programme, which will be free and voluntary, is set to start in nursing homes in January. 

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says he expects to have between 15 and 20 million people vaccinated by June 2021, around a third of the population. To achieve that the authorities will have to reverse the rise in vaccine hesitancy amongst the Spanish population.

The survey, carried out between November 23 and 26 amid 2,130 people by the Center for Sociological Studies, found 55.2 percent of those polled said they would rather wait to see effects of any vaccine before deciding whether or not to take it, an increase of eight percent from the previous survey.

US hits new record with over 230,000 daily infections

The United States notched a record number of virus cases in 24 hours for the third day running

A tally by Johns Hopkins University showed the world's worst-hit country, which has seen a dramatic virus resurgence in recent weeks, reached nearly 230,000 new infections and 2,527 Covid-related deaths on Saturday alone.

For two weeks, the US has regularly topped 2,000 deaths per day, as it had in the spring at the height of the first wave of the country's outbreak.

US health officials warned of a surge after millions of Americans traveled to celebrate last week's Thanksgiving holiday despite pleas from authorities to stay home.

Russia records its highest daily case tally

Russia reported a record high of 29,039 new Covid-19 cases, taking the national total to 2,460,770 since the pandemic began.

Authorities confirmed 457 deaths related to the virus in the past 24 hours, pushing the official national death toll to 43,141. 

Europe battles surge in virus deaths in nursing homes

Mortuary workers are again busy around-the-clock in nursing homes and hospices across Europe, amid outbreaks that this time are causing havoc mostly in facilities spared during the spring.

The surge in Europe is happening despite the retaining wall of measures erected since the spring, including facilities tailored only for residents with the virus. It's also pitching authorities and elder care professionals into a race against the clock before mass vaccinations can begin.

In response, Portugal has deployed military units to train nursing home staff in disinfection. In France, where at least 5,000 institutionalised elderly have died in the past month, and in Germany and Italy, where the summer respite has been followed by an upward turn since September, visits by relatives to nursing homes are being restricted again or banned altogether.

Most countries are ramping up screening of workers and residents, trying to prevent spread by asymptomatic virus carriers. The strategy has helped Belgium reduce nursing homes deaths from 63 percent of all virus fatalities before mid-June to 39 percent at the end of November.

Most of California to enter sweeping new lockdown

California's two most densely inhabited regions and its agricultural breadbasket will be under stay-at-home orders by Sunday night as the pandemic strains hospitals in the most populous US state.

Designed to kick in when intensive care units in any of five regions have little remaining capacity, the order affecting Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley will close bars, hair salons and barbershops, and allows restaurants to remain open only for takeout and deli very service.

The shutdowns, which go into effect at 11:59 pm Sunday, are triggered by an order announced Wednesday by Governor Gavin Newsom.

The San Francisco Bay Area will also go into lockdown on Sunday night, under a different set of orders announced Friday by officials there.

More than 25,000 new cases were diagnosed in California on Friday, officials said on Saturday, a record since the pandemic began.

Virus hits England cricket tour of South Africa

Two members of England cricket's touring party in South Africa have tested positive and the rescheduled first one-day international was cancelled on Sunday.

The match in Paarl was to have opened the series after Friday's scheduled first match in Cape Town was scrapped just before play was to begin after a South African player tested positive.

Cricket South Africa and the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a joint statement that two members of England's touring party had now tested positive for the virus, although further tests were required.

It was not clear if those involved were England players.

Queen Elizabeth to get vaccinated

Britain's Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip may "let it be known" once they have received a vaccine against Covid-19, The Times newspaper reported, citing unnamed royal aides.

The 94-year-old monarch and her 99-year-old spouse are likely to be among the first to be offered a jab, with the government prioritising elderly people as it begins the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine that was approved on December 2.

The queen is highly admired in British society, and her public backing for the vaccine would be a powerful message t o counter anti-vaccination misinformation circulating online.

The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 60,000 people in the United Kingdom and infected more than 1.7 million.

South Korea tightens curbs in Seoul

South Korea will impose heightened social distancing rules for the capital Seoul and surrounding areas, local media reported, as health authorities struggle to contain the largest wave of coronavirus infections in nine months.

The decision comes after the government implemented unprecedented measures on Saturday in a country that had seen initial success through aggressive contact tracing and other steps.

China prepares large-scale rollout of vaccines

Provincial governments across China are placing orders for experimental, domestically made vaccines, though health officials have yet to say how well they work or how they may reach the country's 1.4 billion people.

Developers are speeding up final testing, the Chinese foreign minister said Thursday during a UN meeting, as Britain issued approval for emergency use of Pfizer Inc.'s vaccine candidate and providers scrambled to set up distribution.

China's fledgling pharmaceutical industry has at least five vaccines from four producers being tested in more than a dozen countries including Russia, Egypt and Mexico.

Health experts say even if they are successful, the certification process for the United States, Europe, Japan and other developed countries might be too complex for them to be used there. 

However, China said it will ensure the products are affordable for developing countries.

One developer, China National Pharmaceutical Group, known as Sinopharm, said in November it applied for final market approval for use of its vaccine in China. 

Others have been approved for emergency use on health workers and other people deem ed at high risk of infection.

Germany's confirmed cases on the rise

The number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 17,767 to 1,171,323, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.

The reported death toll rose by 255 to 18,772, the tally showed. 

German police break up banned coronavirus demonstration

German police intervened to break up a demonstration by opponents of coronavirus lockdown measures in the northern city of Bremen after the protest was banned by the country's highest court.

Germany's constitutional court upheld earlier rulings by lower courts that had already denied permission for 20,000 demonstrators to convene in the city centre of Bremen.

However, hundreds of people still gathered, some of them opponents of the government's coronavirus measure s and others part of a counter-demonstration.

Bremen police said on Twitter they were trying to keep the groups apart and break up the banned gathering, as well as urging people to wear face masks.

Last month, police unleashed water cannon and pepper spray in an effort to scatter thousands of protesters in Berlin angry about coronavirus restrictions.

Although most Germans accept the latest "lockdown light" to curb a second wave of the coronavirus, critics say the measures endanger citizens' civil rights.

Mainland China reports 18 new virus cases 

Mainland China reported 18 new virus cases on December 5, up from 17 cases from a day earlier, the country's national health authority said.

The National Health Commission said in a statement that 17 of the new cases were imported infections. 

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, fell to two from 12 a day earlier.

The number of confirmed cases in Mainland China stands at 86,619. The death toll remained unchanged at 4,634. 

Indonesia minister turns himself in for virus aid graft 

Indonesia’s social affairs minister turned himself in to anti-corruption authorities to face charges of taking bribes related to the government’s virus aid distribution.

Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara arrived at the Corruption Eradication Commission’s headquarters in the capital, Jakarta, hours after the commission’s Chairman Firli Bahuri called on him to surrender in a news conference just before midnight on Saturday.

Batubara, who is also a member of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, made no comment.

The anti-corruption commission, known by its acronym KPK, said Batubara is accused of receiving at least $1.2 million from two supplier companies through his two subordinates, who were also named as suspects.

South Korea reports 631 new cases

South Korea has reported 631 new cases, ahead of an expected government decision on whether to further tighten social distancing curbs as health authorities struggle to contain a third wave of outbreaks.

This brings the country's total tally to 37,546, with 545 deaths, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported. 

UK gets ready to rollout Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine this week

Britain is preparing to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine this week, initially making the shot available at hospitals before distributing stocks to doctors' clinics, the government said on Sunday.

The first doses are set to be administered on Tuesday, with the National Health Service (NHS) giving top priority to vaccinating the over-80s, frontline healthcare workers and care home staff and residents.

Britain gave emergency use approval for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech last week, jumping ahead in the global race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation programme in history.

In total, Britain has ordered 40 million doses, enough to vaccinate 20 million people in the country of 67 million.

About 800,000 doses are expected to be available within the first week.

Mexico registers 11,625 new virus cases

Mexico's Health Ministry has reported 11,625 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and an additional 593 fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1,168,395 cases and 109,456 deaths.

Australian state eases restrictions for summer

Australia's Victoria state has eased virus restrictions after the country's pandemic hotspot recorded 37 days without any new infections, moving toward a "Covid-safe" holiday season.

From midnight on Sunday, up to 100 people will be able to attend public gatherings such as weddings, with density rules of one person per two square metres remaining in place, while 50 percent of office workers will be able to return to workplaces by January 11, up from 25 percent now, the state's premier said.

"Today we can take some big steps, not to normal, but to a Covid-safe summer (but) we all need to remain vigilant and we all need to play our part," Premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference.

Masks will remain mandatory at indoor venues and on public and ride-share transport, he said.