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TOP HEADLINES
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Intensive care units in Sweden's capital, Stockholm, reached 99 percent capacity on Tuesday as its healthcare system struggles to cope with a surge in cases.
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**A former UK immunization director, David Salisbury, has said that allergic reactions to vaccines are only discovered after clinical trials **as "you very often screen out people who might have a reaction," after two people who had the jab discovered allergy symptoms.
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Czechia's government has had its state ofemergency powers extended to December 23 as it continues to try to halt the spread of the virus.
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German firm BioNTech says regulation documents relating to its vaccine have been "unlawfully accessed" after a cyber attack on the EU's drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency.
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Slovakia has ordered all schools and shops to close for at least three weeks from December 21 after a recent surge in cases.
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**Germany plans to give free FFP2 face masks to all people over 60 years old **from December 15, Health Minister Jens Spahn said.
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Spain'snew cases per 100,000 people fell to 193 onWednesday , its lowest level since August.
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** Thecreators of Russia's Sputnik vaccine have denied claims people taking the jab must quit drinking alcohol for nearly two months** , but did say patientsshould avoid "getting drunk," because it would compromise the immune system.
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The UK's economic growth slowed in October as restrictions were tightened to halt the spread of a second wave. Gross Domestic Product growth was 0.4 percent in October compared with 1.1 percent in September.
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Russia's new infections rose by 27,927 in the past 24 hours , while deaths also rose, by 562 to 45,280.
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Germany's new infections rose by 23,679 in the past 24 hours , whilefatalities rose, by 440 to 20,372.
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Stefan de Vries in Amsterdam
The government is allocating a further $4.48 billion for businesses and employees struggling during the pandemic. Hard-hit sectors, such as catering and culture, will receive additional support. Planned cutbacks to the emergency support program will be reversed.
Dutch biotechnology company Pharming has started a trial in the U.S. for the treatment of COVID-19 patients with its primary drug Ruconest. The drug has already been administered to the first patient. The company has been working on a drug against COVID-19 in collaboration with Basel University Hospital in Switzerland. Encouraging results already came out in April.
According to the health authority RIVM, there are currently around 2 million Dutch people protected against the coronavirus because they have been infected before.
This Christmas holiday will be a test for our health system
- Marek Krajci, Slovakia's health minister
Ryan Thompson in Frankfurt
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has caught the world's attention with her emotional plea in parliament.
"If we have too many contacts before Christmas and then it's the last Christmas with our grandparents, then we will have failed," she told members of parliament.
Merkel has asked Germans to stop socializing because the number of new infections and hospitalizations are still too high. New daily case figures have steadied at around 20,000 a day – but they are not going down to the levels targeted by health advisors.
The chancellor has suggested the country begins a "hard lockdown" before Christmas – which could be agreed to during a meeting of Germany's state leaders on Friday.
The state of Bavaria has already tightened COVID-19 restrictions by banning people from leaving their homes and formally declaring a "disaster situation."
The creators of Russia's Sputnik vaccine have denied claims that people taking the jab must quit drinking alcohol for nearly two months. /Reuters
Linda Kennedy in Budapest
More than 100,000 people registered in one day on Hungary's new vaccine registration site, the government has announced. There are as yet no approved vaccines in Hungary and registration is to reserve a future appointment.
The government said it had "tied down" 17.5 million doses of vaccines from a variety of manufacturers and is continuing to talk to Chinese vaccine makers and to monitor the Russian vaccine.
In the latest 24-hour period for which figures have been made public, there were 3,221 new infections and 160 deaths. It was mostly elderly patients with existing illnesses who died, the government said. This brings the total number of deaths to 6,280.
Ross Cullen in Paris
France's Prime Minister Jean Castex is expected to confirm on Thursday if and how France will exit lockdown on December 15.
The government has warned it will not necessarily end the country's confinement as planned next Tuesday.
France had planned to lift travel and movement restrictions and reopen cinemas, theaters and museums on December 15, a date that was meant to be the second stage of a three-part easing of lockdown.
But on Wednesday, France recorded 14,595 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours – a number well above the target of 5,000 cases per day set by President Emmanuel Macron. From December 15, lockdown was set to be replaced by the imposition of a 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew and people could move around the country and would not have needed to fill in a government form every time they left their house.
Separately, the labor ministry has said furlough compensation will be extended until the end of January 2021 for all sectors.
France's Prime Minister Jean Castex is expected to confirm on Thursday if and how France will exit lockdown on December 15. /AP
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