i_need_contribute
|
Country, |
Total |
New |
Total |
|
World |
73,790,798 |
+587,312 |
1,640,774 |
|
17,143,942 |
+200,035 |
311,073 |
|
|
9,932,908 |
+26,401 |
144,130 |
|
|
6,974,258 |
+44,849 |
182,854 |
|
|
2,707,945 |
+26,689 |
47,968 |
|
|
2,391,447 |
+11,532 |
59,072 |
|
|
1,898,447 |
+32,102 |
16,881 |
|
|
1,888,116 |
+18,450 |
64,908 |
|
|
1,870,576 |
+14,844 |
65,857 |
|
|
1,771,488 |
+9,452 |
48,401 |
|
|
1,510,203 |
+6,981 |
41,204 |
|
|
1,444,646 |
+10,130 |
39,356 |
|
|
1,378,518 |
+21,377 |
23,692 |
|
|
1,255,974 |
+5,930 |
114,298 |
|
|
1,147,446 |
+6,907 |
23,309 |
|
|
1,123,474 |
+7,704 |
52,670 |
|
|
987,675 |
+1,545 |
36,817 |
|
|
909,082 |
+8,416 |
15,480 |
|
|
873,679 |
+7,552 |
23,661 |
|
|
629,429 |
+6,120 |
19,111 |
|
|
628,577 |
+6,633 |
10,168 |
|
|
609,211 |
+1,074 |
18,054 |
|
|
586,259 |
+5,176 |
9,828 |
|
|
577,363 |
+1,391 |
12,614 |
|
|
575,329 |
+1,499 |
15,949 |
|
|
565,758 |
+6,171 |
13,698 |
|
|
494,209 |
+1,877 |
7,129 |
|
|
475,214 |
+6,352 |
13,659 |
|
|
451,832 |
+1,128 |
8,812 |
|
|
443,246 |
+2,459 |
8,905 |
|
|
403,619 |
+2,793 |
6,711 |
|
|
360,630 |
+1,124 |
3,014 |
|
|
360,155 |
+142 |
6,069 |
|
|
353,576 |
+2,638 |
5,733 |
|
|
327,679 |
+2,628 |
4,648 |
|
|
285,763 |
+1,893 |
7,237 |
|
|
277,248 |
+5,884 |
2,433 |
|
|
265,024 |
+2,547 |
3,437 |
|
|
250,180 |
+936 |
1,730 |
|
|
202,356 |
+176 |
13,896 |
|
|
196,987 |
+2,368 |
3,411 |
|
|
194,900 |
+3,837 |
1,883 |
|
|
187,267 |
+1,226 |
622 |
|
|
184,287 |
+2,743 |
6,005 |
|
|
183,259 |
+4,273 |
2,007 |
|
|
181,870 |
+2,217 |
2,643 |
|
|
179,718 |
+2,360 |
2,778 |
|
|
164,059 |
+1,911 |
1,282 |
|
|
Dominican |
155,797 |
+613 |
2,367 |
|
154,096 |
+927 |
1,956 |
|
|
149,120 |
+438 |
2,529 |
|
|
148,877 |
+1,264 |
1,223 |
|
|
147,345 |
+195 |
9,024 |
|
|
146,710 |
+261 |
913 |
|
|
142,986 |
+661 |
2,147 |
|
|
141,272 |
+151 |
241 |
|
|
135,523 |
+2,034 |
1,251 |
|
|
130,082 |
+677 |
4,476 |
|
|
128,656 |
+1,403 |
2,625 |
|
|
126,719 |
+215 |
1,475 |
|
|
126,372 |
+1,199 |
3,785 |
|
|
122,609 |
+523 |
6,966 |
|
|
117,542 |
+300 |
1,813 |
|
|
116,087 |
+2,992 |
961 |
|
|
114,642 |
+283 |
2,989 |
|
|
113,409 |
+2,307 |
1,023 |
|
|
113,241 |
+1,880 |
3,956 |
|
|
110,667 |
+1,155 |
2,319 |
|
|
108,480 |
+355 |
965 |
|
|
98,281 |
+1,524 |
2,149 |
|
|
96,451 |
+1,431 |
863 |
|
|
95,353 |
+1,130 |
1,991 |
|
|
93,065 |
+468 |
2,623 |
|
|
92,459 |
+404 |
1,604 |
|
|
92,017 |
+660 |
1,319 |
|
|
89,444 |
+176 |
348 |
|
|
86,758 |
+17 |
4,634 |
|
|
86,618 |
+1,772 |
422 |
|
|
77,910 |
+236 |
1,316 |
|
|
76,776 |
+327 |
2,134 |
|
|
75,241 |
+147 |
612 |
|
|
74,732 |
+881 |
2,169 |
|
|
74,132 |
+758 |
1,200 |
|
|
58,341 |
+16 |
29 |
|
|
53,270 |
+110 |
327 |
|
|
50,000 |
+809 |
1,028 |
|
|
44,364 |
+880 |
600 |
|
|
42,250 |
+350 |
418 |
|
|
42,148 |
+345 |
597 |
|
|
42,132 |
+252 |
1,212 |
|
|
41,852 |
+518 |
395 |
|
|
5,381 |
+22 |
117 |
|
|
5,079 |
+23 |
46 |
|
|
4,246 |
+9 |
60 |
|
|
1,405 |
+3 |
35 |
Retrieved from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
From CNN's Jake Kwon, Gawon Bae and James Griffiths
A medical staff member takes a swab for a Covid-19 test at a temporary testing station in Seoul on December 16. Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images
South Korean health officials have warned residents to take current restrictions seriously, as the country faces the possibility of entering into its first potential lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic.
South Korea has long been considered a model country for its effective Covid-19 response. Despite being among the first countries to be hit by the virus, it has managed to avoid the type of stringent lockdown measures seen elsewhere in the world, thanks largely to a combination of aggressive testing and sophisticated track and trace techniques.
But as the pandemic drags on into winter, the emergence of a so-called "third wave" has resulted in an apparently untraceable rise in new infections.
Rising cases: On Tuesday, South Korea reported 1,078 new cases -- the country's highest daily count yet -- bringing the national total to 45,442, according to the Health Ministry. The majority of the cases were locally transmitted.
Some 226 patients are in critical condition, while there were an additional 12 deaths Tuesday, increasing total fatalities to 612.
Speaking Wednesday, senior Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho urged people to follow social distancing measures in the Seoul metropolitan area, which accounts for around half of the country's 51 million population.
Officials are now debating whether to raise restrictions to a higher alert level, with many concerned it could harm small businesses and the self-employed.
Last ICU bed: Seoul now only has one single ICU bed dedicated to Covid-19 left in the city, the acting mayor said on Wednesday.
Some 77 of the total 78 dedicated beds are occupied by coronavirus patients. And 85.7% of total dedicated beds across hospitals are occupied, adding extra strain to health systems that are already struggling.
The city will secure 18 additional ICU beds by end of the year, authorities said.
From CNN’s Maggie Fox
Just over half of all planned doses of coronavirus vaccines have been bought up by high-income countries such as the United States, Japan and Australia, which means as much as a quarter of the world’s population will be unable to get vaccinated until 2022, researchers reported Tuesday.
These rich countries have pre-ordered close to 7.5 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines, enough to vaccinate 3.76 billion people, Anthony So of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and colleagues found.
“Just over half (51%) of these doses will go to high income countries, which represent 14% of the world’s population,” they wrote in their report, published in the BMJ.
At the time the report was written, the US accounted for one-fifth of all global Covid-19 cases but had reserved 800 million doses of vaccine. Japan and Australia accounted for fewer than 1% of cases but had options on 1 billion doses.
The researchers projected that the 13 major vaccine manufacturers working on coronavirus vaccines had the potential capacity for close to 6 billion courses of vaccine by the end of 2021.
“High income countries have reserved just over half of these vaccine doses from 13 leading vaccine manufacturers. Low and middle income countries have the remainder, despite these countries comprising more than 85% of the world’s population,” they wrote.
“Even if all 13 of these vaccine manufacturers were to succeed in reaching their maximum production capacity, at least a fifth of the world’s population would not have access to vaccines until 2022.”
There’s one effort that is trying to get around this -- COVAX, coordinated by the World Health Organization, global vaccines initiative Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). The group is trying to build manufacturing capacity for 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine.
“The COVAX Facility could play a key role in ensuring access to Covid-19 vaccines. However, its target of two billion doses by the end of 2021 is still short on premarket vaccine commitments and financing to deliver on this goal,” So’s team noted.
From CNN's Emma Reynolds
London will return to a strict lockdown this week, after coronavirus cases soared in the British capital, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday.
Hancock said London will be moved from England's Tier 2 "high alert" local restrictions to the "very high" Tier 3 on Wednesday morning at 12 a.m., along with nearby areas in south and west Essex, and south Hertfordshire.
Under the highest restriction level, all hospitality venues including pubs, cafes and restaurants will close except for takeout and delivery.
People should avoid traveling outside their area and reduce the number of journeys they make wherever possible.
Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-12-16-20/index.html
Lines, with little social distancing, outside a government office in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, last month.Credit...Theo Jeptha/Associated Press
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has announced a raft of new restrictions as the country enters a second coronavirus wave, with infections expected to rise further over the festive season.
Alcohol sales will be restricted, curfews will be in place from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., and gatherings of more than 100 people indoors are banned across the country. In areas with the highest number of case, there will be even tighter restrictions, including the closing of beaches and public parks in some areas, Mr. Ramaphosa said in a televised address on Monday.
Four provinces are driving the surge in cases: Eastern Cape; Gauteng, the economic heart of the country; KwaZulu-Natal; and Western Cape, known for its wine routes and stunning beaches. Before the holiday season, when many gather at the seaside, beaches will be closed in Eastern Cape and along the Garden Route in Western Cape.
“The festive season now poses the greatest threat to the health and well-being of our nation,” Mr. Ramaphosa said in his broadcast.
The president warned that the resurgence threatened to overwhelm the South African health system, noting that, “if we do not act urgently and if we do not act together, the second wave will be more severe than the first wave.”
South Africa, the sub-Saharan region’s most developed economy, has recorded more than 866,000 coronavirus cases, according to a New York Times database. The average number of new daily cases has risen to more than 6,800, from around 3,800 a week ago, according to the database and government statistics. Officials said that another concern was the fact that new infections were highest among young people for the first time since the pandemic began.
The trend is being driven by student “rage” events — a series of alcohol-fueled parties, or gatherings at nightclubs and festivals, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, the South African health minister, said in a radio interview on Monday.
Dr. Mkhize said that the large number of these parties with “no adherence” to social distancing, adequate ventilation and other mitigation measures had led to several so-called superspreader events. After one big party in the southeastern coastal town of Ballito in KwaZulu-Natal Province this month, almost 1,000 students tested positive.
A subway train in Beijing on Monday. Even though China has largely contained the coronavirus, small clusters of cases have continued to surface in the country.Credit...Andy Wong/Associated Press
The Chinese authorities on Tuesday were investigating a cargo pilot in a province in southwestern China who tested positive for the virus shortly after attending a 300-person wedding, just days after returning to the country from the United States.
His case added to fears about an outbreak in the province, Sichuan, where a few dozen cases — most of them imported — have been registered in recent days. Even though China has largely contained the virus since it emerged in the central city of Wuhan last year, small clusters of cases have continued to surface in the country.
And it is a stark reversal: Earlier this year, travelers from China were seen as posing a major risk of carrying the virus, but now, with the U.S. the center of the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, the tables have turned.
It is unclear how the pilot, who was identified in Chinese news reports by his surname, Gao, had contracted the virus. Mr. Gao, 26, returned to the city of Chengdu from Los Angeles in late November and spent time in quarantine after testing negative for the virus, according to Chinese news media reports. The authorities have classified his case as an imported infection.
As news of the case spread on Chinese social media sites, many people expressed anger over Mr. Gao’s decision to attend the wedding, which took place in the city of Jiangyou on Saturday, 13 days after his return from the United States. He tested positive on Monday, according to Chinese news reports.
China has some of the strictest virus-control measures in the world, and the government typically mandates two weeks of quarantine for people returning to the mainland. But pilots are allowed exemptions. Some do not need to undergo quarantine if they test negative for the virus upon returning to China.
The share of the Spanish population to have contracted coronavirus has nearly doubled to almost 10%, or about 4.7 million people, in the second wave of contagion since late summer, results from the latest stage of a nationwide antibody study showed.
More than 51,400 people were tested and surveyed across Spain in the second half of November for the prevalence study, which suggests the infections by far exceed the number of confirmed cases in Spain, of just over 1.75 million.
“One in 10 people living in Spain would have been infected ... half during the first wave and the other half during this second epidemic wave,” said Raquel Yotti, director of Spain’s Carlos III health institute, which co-led the study.
Prevalence in Madrid was the highest of all Spanish regions, with 18.6% of the population testing positive for Covid-19 antibodies.
Previous results of the study - published in July after testing nearly 70,000 people in April-June - showed a prevalence rate of just over 5%.
Spain has been one of Europe’s hardest-hit countries by the pandemic, both in terms of contagion and the economic impact. A total of 48,401 people have died from the coronavirus, with the toll climbing by 388 over the last 24 hours.
Data from the health ministry also showed 10,328 new coronavirus cases were reported on Tuesday, bringing the total since the onset of the pandemic to 1,762,212 infections.
The infection rate measured over the previous 14 days is up for a second day in a row at nearly 199 cases per 100,000 people.
The government decided a second state of emergency in October with new restrictions such as night-time curfews to stem resurgent infections, which helped to reduce new cases to less than 200 per 100,000 people this month.
Indian office workers queue at a bus stop in Mumbai. Photograph: Divyakant Solanki/EPA
India recorded 26,355 new coronavirus cases, data from the health ministry showed on Wednesday, making it the third straight day that daily infections in the country have stayed below 30,000.
India has recorded 9.93 million infections so far, the second highest in the world after the United States, but daily numbers have dipped steadily since hitting a peak of around 97,000 in mid-September.The average number of Covid-19 deaths reported each day in India has been decreasing for 10 days straight, according to a Reuters tally.
On Wednesday, the health ministry said deaths rose by 360, with the total fatalities now at 144,069.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
· London on Wednesday moved into the highest level of coronavirus restrictions in an effort to control rising infection rates, dealing another blow to hospitality venues before Christmas. The British capital’s move into “tier 3” means theatres, pubs, restaurants will have to close, although takeaway food outlets can still operate.
· Donald Trump will ‘absolutely’ encourage Americans to take vaccine, says press secretary. The US president will “absolutely” encourage Americans to take Covid-19 vaccines and will receive a vaccine himself as soon as his medical team determines its best, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, has said.
· Nearly one in four people may not get Covid-19 vaccines until at least 2022 because rich countries with less than 15% of the global population have reserved 51% of the doses of the most promising vaccines, researchers said. Low- and middle-income countries – home to more than 85% of the world’s population – would have to share the remainder, said researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US.
· A World Health Organization research mission to China is expected to arrive in Wuhan next month to investigate how the novel coronavirus jumped from animals to humans, and whether it emerged earlier or in a different place than originally thought.
· India recorded 26,355 new coronavirus cases, data from the health ministry showed on Wednesday, making it the third straight day that daily infections in the country have stayed below 30,000. India has recorded 9.93m infections so far, the second highest in the world after the United States, but daily numbers have dipped steadily since hitting a peak of about 97,000 in mid-September.
· A rapid, over-the-counter Covid-19 test developed by Australian firm Ellume has been given emergency approval in the US. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Brisbane-based company’s 20-minute Covid-19 Home Test on Tuesday as the US battles the virus that has infected 16.5 million people and killed more than 300,000 people in the country.
· South Korea reports record 1,078 new cases. South Korea has reported 1,078 new coronavirus cases, bringing the national total to 45,442. The death toll has risen by 12, bringing the total to 612.The new case total is the highest since the start of the pandemic. There were only three critical care beds left in the greater Seoul area with a nearly 26 million population, officials said.
· Swedish PM says officials misjudged power of Covid resurgence. Health officials in Sweden, which opted not to respond to the first wave of Covid-19 with a national lockdown, misjudged the power of the virus’s resurgence, the country’s prime minister has said, as independent commission criticised the country’s strategy.
· New Zealand’s economy shows faster recovery than expected. The country is expected to bounce back sooner from the impact of Covid-19 than previously thought, but large deficits and rising debt levels will have a lasting effect on the economy, the government said on Wednesday. The country’s treasury department predicted the budget deficit for the 2020/21 fiscal year to be NZ$21.58bn, NZ$10.1bn smaller than forecasts made in September.
· New community case confirmed in Sydney, Australia. A new case of community transmission has been confirmed in Sydney, Australia, breaking a 12-day streak of no community cases.The case is a 45-year-old man who felt ill on Saturday and was tested yesterday.The man drives a van that carries international air crews.
Medicine
