Italy set for highest death toll in Europe: COVID-19 daily bulletin

TOP HEADLINES

Italy could soon reclaim a record that nobody wants - the most coronavirus deaths in Europe - after another 761 COVID-19 victims on Friday, bringing its official total to 63,387, just 216 behind the UK.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned thatChristmas celebrations could turn to tearsif people fail to be cautious during the festive season, highlighting a 60 percent increase worldwide in deaths from the respiratory disease over the past six weeks.

Switzerland has announced that all shops, bars and restaurants must close from 7 p.m. in order to fight the resurgent spread of the disease. The country will apply the new rules from Saturday until January 22, and it has some of the worst per capita infection rates in Europe .

The UK will cut the self-isolation period to 10 days from 14, in a change which will apply to both those presumed to have been in contact with someone with the virus within the country, and those arriving from abroad. The shorter self-isolation period will begin from December 14.

Germany's ChancellorAngela Merkel is scheduled to discuss on Sunday a tightening of lockdown restrictions with state leadersas coronavirus infections rise and amid growing calls for action.

A Belgian dry ice maker, Artimpex is seeing a significant rise in demand for its productswith the carbon dioxide-based cooling agent having become key to transporting COVID-19 vaccines.

The World Bank has approveda loan of $300 million to help Ukraine's government support low-income familiesamid the pandemic. Ukraine's economy plunged 11.4 percent in the second quarter when lockdown measures were imposed.

The CEO of Germany's BioNTech, Ugur Sahin says the biggest challenge facing it and partner Pfizer will be to scale up manufacturing to meet huge demand. The company hopes to boost supply by using the 750 million-dose-a-year plant bought from Novartis earlier than projected.

Russia has confirmed 28,137 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours , including 6,622 in Moscow, pushing the national tally over 2.6 million since the pandemic began. Authorities said that 560 people had died overnight, taking the official death toll to 46,453.

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ACROSS EUROPE

Andrew Wilson in UK

Hospitality venues across the west of Scotland are preparing to open for the first time in three weeks as selected areas move from level four to level three in the country's COVID-19 restrictions tier system.

Authorities in Birmingham are considering a "test and dine" pilot scheme to help pubs and restaurants. It is based around people being tested just hours before they decide to eat out.

The Oxford vaccine is to join forces with Russia's Sputnik project to see if a combination vaccination would work better. Experimenting with two mixed vaccines, scientists are hoping it may deliver a stronger immune response.

General Practioners in England running low on vaccine supplies have been told to prioritize elderly patients from ethnic minorities and with underlying health conditions.

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GERMANY

Frankfurt's Mayor Peter Feldmann has announced that adults can pay child fare to travel across the city by bus and train on Saturday, a saving of $1.44. It is intended to encourage locals to do their Christmas shopping on the weekend in the city center in an attempt to boost the retail sector but there are concerns it goes against the governments message to limit unnecessary travel.

NETHERLANDS

The number of coronavirus infections in the Netherlands increased by more than 9,000 in 24 hours, the biggest daily rise since October, according to the data released by the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) on Saturday.

The latest confirmed cases took the total number during the pandemic to more than 600,000, with more than 10,000 deaths in the country.

Members of the Dutch government will meet on Sunday to review tougher lockdown measures ahead of Christmas.

The Italian government imposed tighter restrictions on December 4 to stem the spread of of coronavirus during the Christmas holidays. /Filippo Monteforte/AFP

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Source(s): Reuters ,AFP