Covid-19 Pandemic: Updates and live news from December 19, 2020

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a complete blockade in London and large parts of the south-east of England in a desperate attempt to stop a new strain of coronavirus that is spreading rapidly in the UK. The nation surpassed 2 million total infections.

The United States reported 260,663 new cases on Friday, shortly after the record set on Monday. 2,889 more people died, a daily drop after three consecutive days of more than 3,000 fatalities.

Swiss approved the main feature of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, while the Oxford-AstraZeneca version is expected to be approved for use in the UK later this year, the Telegraph reported.

Main developments:

• Global Tracker: cases exceed 75.8 million; deaths exceed 1.6 million
• Modern shooting cleaned up in the US, increasing the vaccination effort
• World Cup spring seems to be relieved of the virus when vaccinations begin
• December is becoming the United States worst month of the pandemic
• More than 1.2 million people have been vaccinated
• Can I be required to be vaccinated ?: QuickTake
• Subscribe to daily virus update from The Bloomberg forecast team here. Click CVID

Perna says (12:15 pm NY) about the confusion over the firing offer due to poor communication

The Army general who led the vaccine distribution effort in the United States said a lag between when shots are fired and when they are cleared for shipment caused widespread confusion about how many doses states will receive next week.

Gen. Gustave Perna, head of operations for Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. vaccine program, said he took “personal responsibility” for poor communication that led some states to complain that they were reduced the assignment without explanation.

Arizona deaths return to over 100 (11:48 am NY)

Arizona reported 118 new deaths, its fourth consecutive day with more than 100 fatalities. Infections and hospitalizations tend to increase, after the state contained a major outbreak this summer.

London puts emergency blockade as UK fights new virus strain (11:37 am NY)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a complete closure in London and large parts of south-east England in a desperate attempt to stop a new strain of coronavirus spreading rapidly in the UK

After emergency talks with his top officials, Johnson canceled plans to ease pandemic restrictions for five days during the holidays. Mixing households will be banned in London and the South East and socialization will be restricted to Christmas Day only in the rest of England.

The prime minister announced that from Sunday a new level 4 will be applied to the hot access areas of the capital, with all non-essential shops closed and millions of orderly people staying at home.

The UK reported 27,052 new cases on Saturday, bringing the total to more than 2 million. The country reached 1 million cases on October 31. Another 534 people died, 100 more than the weekly average.

Ontario cases remain high (11:26 am NY)

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, recorded 2,357 new cases of Covid, the second highest daily record, according to the province website. This compares to 2,290 cases on Thursday and 2,432 cases were recorded a day earlier. D’Ontario the government said on Friday that it would tighten blockade measures in five regions.

According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News, Canada is approaching 500,000 confirmed cases in total.

Deaths in Italy, slow cases (11:11 am NY)

Italy saw the number of daily coronavirus deaths drop to 553 on Saturday from 674 the day before. On Friday, 16,308 new cases were registered against 17,992.

The government voted Friday afternoon to impose a “stop” shutdown from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6 to continue to limit the spread of coronavirus across the country. There will be strict restrictions on movement and non-essential restaurants and shops closed at Christmas and towards the New Year’s Eve and Epiphany festivities on January 6 and slightly looser sidewalks between December 28 and 30, and on January 4th.

Germany secures 30 million more doses of BioNTech vaccines: Bild (9:30 am NY)

Germany bought an additional 30 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, Bild am Sonntag reported, citing sources in the German Ministry of Health. This allocation will reinforce the 55.8 million doses it will receive through a European Union plan, with 50.5 million more doses from Moderna Inc. which will have to be delivered from the EU. Collectively, this will allow Germany to achieve herd immunity in 2021, the Federal Ministry of Health told the newspaper.

United States reports 260,663 new cases, shyness only (7:30 am NY)

The United States reported 260,663 new cases Friday, shortly after the record set Monday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The seven-day average of cases rose to 230,929, 10% higher than the daily average for the previous week.

2,889 more people died, a daily drop after three consecutive days of more than 3,000 fatalities. However, the weekly average rose to 2,591, 9% more than the daily average of the previous week.

French President Macron Stable, able to work (7:25 am NY)

The state of French President Emmanuel Macron is stable, his office reported on Saturday. He is tired but able to work.

Qatar to receive first vaccine shipment Monday (6:47 am NY)

A small gas-rich Qatar will receive its first shipment of coronavirus vaccines on Monday, according to a tweet of the Prime Minister of the country. Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani did not specify which vaccine manufacturer had produced the doses sent as part of the first shipment. Qatar officials had previously said they had reached agreements to buy Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

Switzerland approves Pfizer shot (6:45 am NY)

Switzerland authorized the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, the first approved for use in the country. The country had previously signed contracts with companies for the delivery of three million doses of vaccine. “Deliveries will begin in 2020 and occur throughout 2021,” BioNTech said in a separate statement.

“The data available so far show a comparable high level of efficacy in all age groups investigated, thus meeting safety requirements,” the drug regulator Swissmedic said on Saturday. “The level of protection offered seven days after the second injection is over 90% in adults.”

Iranian infections fall to minimum in eight weeks (18:51 HK)

Iran’s daily infections fell to a minimum in eight weeks, with 6,421 new cases since Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 1,152,072. The number of daily deaths fell by a fifth day to 175. The country has seen a sharp downward trend in its death toll in Covid-19 in the past three weeks, helped by two weeks of strict closure across the country, after daily deaths approached 500 in late November.

The number of Polish deaths increased by the majority in three days (5:27 pm HK)

Poland, which announced new blocking measures for the holiday season, reported 11,267 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, compared to 11,013 on Friday. The Ministry of Health said the death toll rose by 483, the highest in three days.

Hong Kong wave in cases of unknown origin (17:14 HK)

Hong Kong reported 109 new cases of the virus on Saturday, seven of which were imported. Among local infections, 42 are of unknown origin, the highest number in the city’s latest wave and 25 on Friday. More than 70 positive preliminary cases were found. New clusters emerged in various building complexes, which led to mandatory testing for residents.

The UK could approve the vaccine against Oxford on December 29, Telegraph Reports (17:09 HK)