Coronavirus digest: Trump vows vaccine 'in matter of weeks'

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 53 million people globally and killed at least 1.3 million. Of those deaths, over 244,000 were in the United States, which has reported 10 million infections. 

As the country reported some 184,500 infections in a single day, yet another record caseload, US President Donald Trump said that "whatever happens," his administration won't order new lockdowns and that only "time will tell" if another administration would impose one.

Trump also said a coronavirus vaccine could be available to the public as soon as April next year. He said a vaccine would ship "in a matter of weeks" to vulnerable populations. 

The Food and Drug Administration, however, has not yet been asked to grant the necessary emergency approvals, scientific head of Operation Warp Speed Moncef Slaoui said two vaccines and two therapeutics may be granted emergency use by the end of the year.

He said he expects to have enough vaccines to immunize 20 million Americans in December and another 20 million a month later.

Read more: Cool runnings: Getting a coronavirus vaccine around the world

Americas

The governors of Oregon and New Mexico ordered near-lockdowns Friday in the most aggressive response yet to rising infections, despite other US states resisting any forms of shutdowns.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has imposed a two-week-stay-at-home order.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown ordered a two-week "freeze" starting Wednesday. All Oregon businesses will be required to close their offices to the public and work from home instead "to the greatest extent possible."

Mexico has reported 5,558 new cases and 568 deaths, bringing the official totals to 997,393 cases and 97,624 deaths.

Venezuela registered 301 new infections in the last 24 hours and three more deaths, bringing the total number of coronavirus related deaths to 855.

Minister of Communication Freddy Nanez said 14 of the cases were imported infections and that 287 of them stemmed from community transmission. 

Read more: How will this pandemic shape the future of our cities?

 

Africa

Liverpool star Mohammed Salah has tested positive for coronavirus while on internatonal duty in Egypt.

The 28-year-old former Roma forward is now in self-isolation.

AFP reported that the two-time African footballer of the year had returned home early to attend his brother's wedding.

Salah will miss Egypt's African of Nations qualifier against Togo on Saturday.

Europe

The coronavirus death toll in Germany has risen by 178 to 12,378, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 22,461 to 775,556.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Angela Merkel has revealed care home residents and those that work there will "receive priority" in getting access to coronavirus vaccines.

Almost 1 million people across Germany live in nursing homes and the government is hopeful of acquiring 100 million doses of a vaccine being developed by BioNTech and Pfizer.

She used her weekly podcast to warn that "the coming winter will make heavy demands of us all."

"The virus will continue to dominate our lives for quite some time," Merkel said, adding this would mean that people could not meet up as easily as in the past.

Her comments come at the half-way point of a month-long set of restrictions on public life in Germany aimed at steming the spread of the virus.

Austria is planning to upgrade its night-time curfew to a full-on lockdown from Tuesday.

The current measures, which include a curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and the closure of entertainment and catering services, have failed to curtail rising daily infection rates which hit a record of 9,586 on Friday.

The government's new stricter measures, to be in place until December 6, will prohibit people from going outside except for essential purchases and exercise and will encourage people to work or study from home wherever possible.

Greece announced the closure of primary schools, kindergartens and daycare centers on Saturday as coronavirus cases continued to surge.

Secondary schools had already closed although they remained open in most other European countries that have been going through a second wave.

Some 830 of Greece's 1,143 intensive care beds were already occupied and cases in the country have kept rising despite the relatively successful management of the first lockdown.

People entering Slovakia from most European Union (EU) countries will require a negative coronavirus test from Monday. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test must not be more than 72 hours old, state health authorities said. 

The latest measure applies to all EU countries except Finland and Greece, which Slovakia considers low-risk countries, along with China and Japan. 

Commuters who work and reside no more than 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the next border crossing are exempted from the new rule, as are students and professional athletes. 

Crematoriums in the Czech Republic are overburdened due to the country's coronavirus death rate, French news agency AFP reported.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Czech Republic has been the hardest-hit country in Europe in terms of new deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. 

"We are overburdened, there are far more deaths than usual," Josef Melich, the owner of a private crematorium in the city of Tabor, told AFP. "The growth is about 40%. We cover retirement homes where most people die with COVID-19. It's tough."

Since late October, daily COVID-19 deaths in the Czech Republic have averaged about 200, compared with the usual average of 300 deaths from all causes. Infections in the country have been declining for more than a week.

The Health Ministry reported that the daily increase of new confirmed cases reached 7,874 on Thursday, about 5,400 less than the same day a week ago. The new cases hit a record high of 15,727 last week and have been dropping since.

Ukraine registered a record 12,524 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, its health minister has revealed.

Maksym Stepanov said in a televised media briefing: "This is a war, every day the virus takes the lives of Ukrainians."

Daily infection figures began rising in September and the government reacted by implementing a nationwide lockdown at weekends.

The mayor of Istanbul, Turkey's second largest city, has called for at least two weeks of lockdown amid rising coronavirus cases.

Ekrem Imamoglu, who hails from Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), backed a local committee's proposal to tighten the city's measures against the virus.

"The circle is getting narrower," he said. "Especially in the last week... there is at least 50 more deaths in Istanbul alone than the number reported in [the rest] of Turkey."

Asia

South Korea has recorded 205 new coronavirus cases, surpassing 200 for the first time since September, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported. 

Of the new cases, 166 were domestically transmitted and 39 imported. More than 65% of the locally transmitted cases were from Seoul and the northwestern province of Gyeonggi, a densely populated region close to Seoul. 

South Korean authorities began fining people who violate face mask rules in public. 

Those who fail to wear masks in shops, nightclubs, malls, theme parks and hair salons face fines of up to 100,000 won (€76, $90), while the business operators could pay up to 3 million won in fines.

Read more: South Korea offer world lessons on how to tame coronavirus 

Mainland China registered 18 new coronavirus cases, up from eight cases a day earlier. In a statement, the National Health Commission said all new cases were imported infections originating from overseas.

The total of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, dropped to 10 from 15 reported a day earlier. The Commission said all asymptomatic cases were imported. 

Mainland China has confirmed a total of 86,325 COVID-19 cases. The country's death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

Middle East

Iran plans to begin a period of strict and indefinite lockdowns across the country in a bid to arrest a dramatic increase in cases.

"These lockdowns will come into effect on November 21 and are necessary to save lives," President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised address to the nation.

Restrictions on public life will continue indefinitely until the number of new cases and deaths decrease, Rouhani said.

mvb, jsi, jf/dj (Reuters, AP, dpa, AFP, EFE)