Coronavirus live news: South Australia confirms three local cases, US hits daily world record again – The Guardian

Ugur Sahin, chief executive of BioNTech, which has announced promising preliminary results of its coronavirus vaccine with Pfizer, said the companies did not see any serious side effects of the jab.
He said the “key side effects” seen so far were a mild to moderate pain in the injection site for a few days, while some of the participants had a mild to moderate fever for a similar period.
“We did not see any other serious side effects which would result in pausing or halting of the study” he told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show.

“We have now safety data for a proportion of the subjects for more than two months, and we are continuing to collect data for more than two years, to not only see the short and mid-term side effect profile but also the long-term side effect profile.

“But so far the safety profile appears to be absolutely benign.”

Sahin said that more data needed to be generated to find out if immunisation against coronavirus was required each year.

The Czech Republic has reported a further decline in the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths from daily highs seen in early November.

But the country remains among the hardest hit in Europe during this second wave of the pandemic.

Health ministry data showed 4,199 new cases were reported on Saturday, down by more than 3,500 from the same day a week earlier, amid tough lockdown measures, with 132 new fatalities, which includes revisions to previous days.

The total number of cases in the country of 10.7 million since the start of the pandemic now stands at 458,229. The death toll stands at 6,058, a tenfold increase since late September.

Germans should brace for another 4-5 months of severe measures to halt the rise in coronavirus infections and should not expect the current rules to be eased quickly, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told weekly Bild am Sonntag.

“We’re not out of the woods yet”, he said referring to infection numbers. “We cannot afford a yo-yo shutdown with the economy constantly opening and closing.”

Germany has imposed a set of measures dubbed a “lockdown light” to rein in the second wave of the pandemic that the country is seeing in common with much of the rest of Europe, Reuters reports.

While restaurants are closed, schools and shops so far remain open. Data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday that the number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 16,947 to 790,503. Weekend figures tend to be lower as not all data is reported by local authorities.

Altmaier said Germany should be wary of relaxing restrictions too quickly. “If we don’t want days with 50,000 new infections, as was the case in France a few weeks ago, we must see through this and not constantly speculate about which measures can be relaxed again,” he told Bild am Sonntag.

“All countries that lifted their restrictions too early have so far paid a high price in terms of human lives lost.”
His comments echoed those of other leading German policy makers. Among others, Health Minister Jens Spahn said at an online event of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party on Saturday that hard weeks, possibly even months, lie ahead.

Indonesia has reported 4,106 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, taking the total number to 467,113, data from the country’s COVID-19 task force showed.
It recorded 63 COVID-19 deaths, taking the number of fatalities to 15,211. As of Sunday, 391,991 people have recovered from the virus in Indonesia

The Covid-19 rate of growth across the UK “is slowing”, Professor Sir Ian Diamond the UK’s national statistician has said. The head of the Office for National Statistics told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday show:

Diamond, said that cases had increased in the East Midlands, West Midlands and the South East in the last week.

“In England, we have huge regional variation. We have seen in the North West, the North East and in Yorkshire steady increases, although they have tended to flatten off in recent weeks a little.

We have now seen increases in the last week in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and the South East.

And rates are lower, although slightly increasing, in the rest of the country.”

He added:

“The good news is – yes – we are seeing a slow down in the rate of growth.

That means we’re still increasing and we are now in England at 1.25 per 1,000. That means that one in 85 people in England, we believe, have the virus.

In Wales, a little less at one in 100, in Scotland one in 135 and Northern Ireland one in 105.

So yes we are continuing to increase the numbers, but the rate of growth is slowing.”

Greek police on Sunday announced a ban on public gatherings of four or more people as hospitals were overwhelmed with coronavirus cases, ahead of the annual anniversary of a 1973 anti-junta uprising.

Greece on Saturday said it would shut primary schools, kindergartens and daycare centres as virus-related deaths crossed a thousand, AFP reports.

The anti-junta demonstration is a treasured anniversary for many Greeks, and more than 30,000 people demonstrated in Athens and other major cities last year under a heavy police presence.

At least 24 people were killed in the 1973 crackdown, an event generally considered to have broken the junta’s grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy.

This year, however, all public gatherings of four or more people would be banned from 6 am on Sunday to 9 pm on Wednesday to stem the spread of coronavirus police said in a statement.

Fines of 5,000 euros will be issued to legal entities like political parties and 3,000 euros for individuals who organise gatherings, while those participating will be fined 300 euros.

Authorities on Saturday reported 2,835 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to 72,510, and 38 new deaths, raising the toll to 1,035.

It is being called the “great reversal”. After decades of progress, the international goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 is in jeopardy, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has warned, as developing countries battling the coronavirus sacrifice their health and education systems to pay western and Chinese creditors, Jamie Doward reports.

“We need a comprehensive new plan that recognises the need for some countries to restructure and reduce debt,” Brown told the Observer. Ahead of a key G20 meeting next weekend, the former prime minister is calling for a global solution if an imminent child mortality crisis is to be averted.

His warning comes against a backdrop of rising poverty and reversals in child health. Data from the Johns Hopkins Medical School shows that an additional 6,000 children could die every day from preventable causes as the pandemic weakens health systems and disrupts routine services.

But the ability of many developing countries to tackle Covid-19 is severely limited by their debt obligations. With little financial support flowing from the IMF and the World Bank, some governments face a stark choice between repaying creditors or funding crucial public services.

It is predicted that African countries will pay out more than $10bn to creditors this year and next year alone. More than half will go to City asset management firms, like BlackRock, which employs former UK chancellor George Osborne on £650,000 a year, and Fidelity Investments.

Russia reported a daily increase of 22,572 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, taking the national tally to 1,925,825. Authorities also reported 352 Covid-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the official death toll to 33,186.

Hi. Thanks Helen. Caroline Davies here. I will be taking over the live blog for the next few hours. You can get in touch on caroline.davies@theguardian.com

That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, from a sunny Sydney evening. My colleague Caroline Davies will be bringing you the latest for the next while – from a rainy London morning.

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

• The global death toll climbed above 1.3 million and more than 53 million have been infected worldwide by Covid-19, as the virus runs rampant through America and Europe.
• Ten Covid-19 patients were killed and others were in critical condition after fire broke out in an intensive care unit in northeast Romania on Saturday, a hospital spokesperson said. The fire occurred in the early evening in the intensive care of the hospital in the town of Piatra Neamt. It was under control an hour later by the emergency services.
• UN food agency warned 2021 will be worse than 2020. The head of the World Food Program says the Nobel Peace Prize has given the U.N. agency a spotlight and megaphone to warn world leaders that next year is going to be worse than this year, and without billions of dollars “we are going to have famines of biblical proportions in 2021.”
• North Dakota has become the 35th US state to require face coverings be worn in public, as governors across the country grapple with a surge in coronavirus infections that threatens to swamp their healthcare systems. North Dakota joined 38 other states this month in reporting record daily jumps in new cases, 17 others with record deaths and 25 others with a record number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals, according to a Reuters tally.
• The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 16,947 to 790,503, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 107 to 12,485.
• Mexico passes 1m cases. Mexico has registered more than 1 million total coronavirus cases and nearly 100,000 test-confirmed deaths, though officials agree the number is probably much higher. Health Director General Ricardo Cortés Alcalá said late Saturday the number of confirmed cases had reached 1,003,253, with at least 98,259 deaths from Covid-19.
• South Korea reported 208 new coronavirus cases as of Saturday midnight, marking the eight straight day of triple-digit increases, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Sunday. That was slightly higher than the previous day’s 205 new infections and the highest since early September. Of the cases, 176 were domestically transmitted and 32 imported. Nearly 70% of the locally transmitted cases were from Seoul and Gyeonggi province, a densely populated area near the capital.
• In Australia, the state of Victoria again recorded no new cases and no new deaths for the 16th consecutive day. Victoria’s death toll from coronavirus remains at 819, while the total number of deaths from Covid-19 in Australia is 907. Australia’s two other most populous states, NSW and Queensland, also recorded no new locally-acquired Covid-19 cases.
• Ten people have died after a fire broke out in a Covid-19 intensive care ward in Romania, as prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into events. The blaze, which was “most likely triggered by a short circuit”, spread through the ward at Piatra Neamt Regional Emergency hospital on Saturday afternoon, critically injuring seven people.
• 462 more people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 in the U.K, raising the official death toll to 51,766. This number is up from 376 on Friday, government data shows. In Bristol, police made 14 arrests after protesters defied a ban on an anti-lockdown rally. One of the arrested men was Jeremy Corbyn’s brother, vision appears to show.
• Record high case numbers were recorded in Russia and Ukraine. Russia reported 22,702 new infections and 391 deaths. Ukraine registered 12,524 new cases. Poland recorded a record new 548 deaths and 25,571 cases. The record number of deaths takes Poland’s toll above 10,000.
• Iran has announced strict new lockdown restrictions from next Saturday., after recording 452 deaths, a near record. President Hassan Rouhani said non-essential businesses and services will be shut and cars will not be allowed to leave or enter Tehran and 100 other towns and cities
• Lebanon has started a new two-week lockdown after coronavirus infections crossed the 100,000 mark. Beirut’s roads were largely empty and police checkpoints were set up at several locations.
• Greece and Austria have set out plans to tighten lockdown restrictions. Austria is planning to impose a full lockdown from Tuesday. Greece has announced the closure of nurseries and primary schools until the end of November as its death toll surpassed 1,000.

Here is the full story on the new cases in South Australia:

The head of the World Food Program says the Nobel Peace Prize has given the U.N. agency a spotlight and megaphone to warn world leaders that next year is going to be worse than this year, and without billions of dollars “we are going to have famines of biblical proportions in 2021.”

David Beasley said in an interview with The Associated Press that the Norwegian Nobel Committee was looking at the work the agency does every day in conflicts, disasters and refugee camps, often putting staffers’ lives at risk to feed millions of hungry people — but also to send “a message to the world that it’s getting worse out there … (and) that our hardest work is yet to come.”

“It was so timely because we’ve been fighting to get above the choir,” Beasley said of last month’s award, pointing to the news being dominated by the U.S. elections and the Covid-19 pandemic, and the difficulty of getting global attention focused on “the travesty that we’re facing around the world.”

“So this was really a gift from above,” Beasley said, recalling the surprise and delight of WFP’s 20,000 staffers worldwide, and his own shock at being interrupted during a meeting in Niger in Africa’s Sahel region with the news.