Merkel backs tougher measures, UK vaccine warning: COVID-19 bulletin

TOP HEADLINES

**- UK regulators have urged people who have a history of'significant' allergic reactions not toreceivethe Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, **after two people who had the jab suffered a reaction.

• Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed with recommendations to close shops across the country until January 10, saying a vaccine alone would not majorly slow the spread of infections in the first quarter.

• Switzerland plans to ban all public events apart from church services and legislative meetings from December 12 to slow the spread of the virus. The government plans to order restaurants, shops and markets to close at 7 p.m. until January 20, while private gatherings will also be limited.

• Iceland's public swimming pools and cinemas will be allowed to reopen at a reduced capacity,after a fall in new infections. Shops may also be allowed to welcome up to 100 people, depending on the size of the shop, according to the country's Ministry of Health.

• France will adapt its plan to relax some restrictions if it is needed to fight the"resisting"virus ,government spokesman Gabriel Attal said.

• Moldova's Prime Minister Ion Chicu has tested positive for the virus , his adviser Boris Harea said."The Prime Minister will run the government remotely,"he added.

• The UK's chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, has warned Britons they may still need to wear face masks next winter despite the country'svaccination program getting under way.

• The WorldHealth Organization says onlypublic health measures can prevent a new surge in infectionsbecause "the effect of the vaccine in providing some kind of immune barrier is still far off."

• A virus outbreak detected last month on a mink farm inFrance did not involve a mutated strain of COVID-19 , the country'sagriculture minister,Julien Denormandie, said.

• Sweden's government has proposed newtemporarylegislation to expand its powers to fight thepandemic, giving itgreater leewaytoimplement and enforcelockdown measures.

• France's number of new infections rose by 13,713 in the past 24 hours, while the number of people in intensive care fell by 110 to 3,088, bringing it closer to the 2,500-3,000 figure the government said was required to further ease the nationwide lockdown.

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ACROSS EUROPE

Ross Cullen in Paris

France's top ministers are going to hold another health defence council meeting on Wednesday to plan how to exit the current national lockdown if daily coronavirus numbers are still high.

President Emmanuel Macron had said that December 15 would be the day when the country would come out of the second nationwide lockdown.

He had hoped to see daily infection numbers around or under 5,000 by December 15 but it looks increasingly likely that this target will not be met by the deadline.

The government wants to bring in a curfew to replace lockdown; the curfew would last from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and you would need to fill in a document if you leave your house, explaining why you are outside between those hours.

Linda Kennedy in Budapest

Hungary has been invited to take part in a clinical trial for the Russian vaccine, the government has announced.

A Hungarian delegation visited Russia and the invitation to take part, the government said, would mean between 3,000 and 5,000 Hungarians being vaccinated.

A row has broken out after Hungarian news websites reported the country's national chief physician said there would be no choice of vaccines for Hungarians. The government then published a contradiction to this on its official website.

It comes after the country's new vaccine registration site went live. The national chief physician said the purpose of the vaccine registration site is to determine how many people would like to be vaccinated.

00:20

Rahul Pathak in Madrid

Spain has recorded its lowest number of weekend coronavirus cases since August, after a further 17,591 new cases were reported over the weekend.

That's the lowest since August 14, taking the number of confirmed coronavirus cases to 1,702,328.

The health ministry said the figures show the centralgovernment's decision to reimpose a state of emergency on October 26 had proved to be the right one as it gave the regions the power to arrest the spread of the second wave.

Stefan de Vries in Amsterdam

On Tuesday evening, the Dutch government gave a press conference in The Hague on the current situation.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte was not able to announce any further relaxations of the current COVID-19 measures. "We really wanted to have seen something different," he said.

In the coming weeks, the cabinet could still opt to close shops or schools, but will initially rely on citizens behaving responsibly.

There were43,103 positive tests in the past week. That is over 9,000 more than in the previous week (33,949). The current spike could be the consequence of the crowds in the city centers on Black Friday (November 27).

A virus outbreak detected last month on a mink farm in France did not involve a mutated strain of COVID-19, according to the country's agriculture ministry. /AP

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