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FOLLOW LIVE | Covid-19 in SA: Cases top 800 000 as death toll reaches 21 803
Coronavirus cases worldwide top 65 million - AFP tally
Paris – More than 65 million cases of the novel coronavirus have been detected worldwide, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 07:50 (GMT) on Friday.
In total, 65 084 394 cases, leading to 1 504 984 deaths, have been recorded around the world since the virus emerged in China late last year.
The rise can be explained only in part by increased testing, with Europe and the United States confronted by a major new wave of infections.
Europe, with more than 19 million confirmed cases including 430 000 fatalities, remains the region with the most infections.
Over the past week, almost 1.7 million new infections have been recorded in 52 European countries, a similar level to the prior seven days.
The United States has recorded over 14 million infections (including 276 000 deaths) – a fifth of the global total.
- AFP
Moderna vaccine confers at least 3 months immunity - study
Washington – The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, which the company says was recently demonstrated to have 94% efficacy, causes the human immune system to produce potent antibodies that endure for at least three months, a study showed on Thursday.
Researchers at the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which co-developed the drug, studied the immune response of 34 adult participants, young and old, from the first stage of a clinical trial.
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, they said that the antibodies, which stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from invading human cells, "declined slightly over time, as expected, but they remained elevated in all participants 3 months after the booster vaccination".
The vaccine, called mRNA-1273, is administered in two injections given 28 days apart.
Even though the number of antibodies in the study subjects faded over time, it is not necessarily a cause for concern.
NIAID director Anthony Fauci and other experts have said it is very likely that the immune system will remember the virus if re-exposed later on, and then produce new antibodies.
- AFP
Moderna to supply up to 125 million Covid-19 vaccine doses globally in first quarter
Moderna Inc said on Thursday it expects to have between 100 million and 125 million doses of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine available globally in the first quarter of 2021.
The company said 85 million to 100 million of those doses would be available in the United States, with 15 million to 25 million available outside the country.
The first-quarter doses are within the 500 million to up to 1 billion doses the company expects to manufacture globally in 2021, Moderna said.
Results from an early-stage trial showed that the vaccine, mRNA-1273, produced high levels of binding and neutralising antibodies that declined slightly over time, but remained elevated in all participants three months after the booster vaccination, the company said.
- REUTERS
WHO looks at e-certificates for Covid-19 vaccination
Copenhagen – The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was considering introducing electronic vaccination certificates, as hopes for an end to the pandemic were boosted after Britain became the first country to approve use of a Covid-19 vaccine.
"We are looking very closely into the use of technology in this Covid-19 response and one of them is how can we work with members states towards something called an e-vaccination certificate," WHO Europe expert Siddhartha Datta told an online press briefing on Thursday.
Introducing such a certificate, which would make it possible to identify and monitor people who have been vaccinated, has not been finalised and would have to be drawn up in accordance with national laws, Datta said.
It would not be an immunity passport, which is supposed to assure that its carrier is protected against the disease because they have been infected and recovered.
"We do not recommend immunity passports," said Catherine Smallwood, the WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe.
- AFP
US registers record of more than 210 000 new Covid cases in 24 hours - Johns Hopkins
Washington – The United States recorded more than 210 000 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University, in an all-time high for the country since the start of the pandemic.
The number of new deaths over the same period was 2 907, the university said, one of the worst US daily tolls yet according to figures recorded by AFP at 20:30 (01:30 GMT Friday).
- AFP
Brazil Covid-19 death toll surpasses 175 000, with almost 6.5 million cases
BRASILIA – Brazil reported 50 434 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 755 deaths from Covid-19, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The South American country has now registered 6 487 084 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 175 270, according to ministry data. It is the world's third worst outbreak outside the United States and India.
- REUTERS
California to ban gatherings and 'non-essential' activities
Los Angeles – California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced new state-wide bans on gatherings and "non-essential" activities, as hospitals in the nation's most populous state face being overwhelmed by record Covid-19 cases.
The limits will come into effect once capacity in intensive care units hits 15% or lower – a development expected in four of California's five regions "as early as the next day or two".
"We are announcing and introducing a regional 'stay-at-home' order in the state of California, fundamentally predicated on the need to stop gathering with people outside of your household," said Newsom.
Once a region is placed under the new limits, an "emergency brake" will last for a minimum of three weeks, and the gathering of people from different households will be banned.
Bars, wineries and personal services such as hair salons will be temporarily closed.
"We're also establishing a framework where all non-essential travel is as well temporarily restricted state-wide," said Newsom.
- AFP
Hackers targeting Covid-19 vaccine supply chain, IBM warns
New York – With multiple vaccines close to becoming available in a world gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, manufacturers have become the target of hackers trying to steal trade secrets or disrupt supply chains.
IBM warned on Thursday that it had uncovered a series of cyberattacks, potentially carried out by state actors, against companies involved in the effort to distribute vaccine doses, which must be kept cold.
IBM said the European Commission's Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union was one target of the attacks, as well as European and Asian companies involved in the supply chain, whose names have not been disclosed.
"Our team recently uncovered a global phishing campaign targeting organisations associated with a Covid-19 cold chain," Claire Zaboeva and Melissa Frydrych, analysts for IBM X-Force, a cyber security working group, wrote in a blog post.
The purpose "may have been to harvest credentials, possibly to gain future unauthorised access to corporate networks and sensitive information relating to the Covid-19 vaccine distribution."
It was unclear if the attacks were successful, IBM said, and while it could not identify those behind the attacks, the precision of the operation signals "the potential hallmarks of nation-state tradecraft".
- AFP
Costa Rica signs Covid-19 vaccine deal with Pfizer and BioNTech
SAN JOSE – Costa Rica has signed an agreement with pharmaceutical companies Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE for the manufacture and delivery of 3 million Covid-19 vaccines next year, the office of President Carlos Alvarado said on Thursday.
Deliveries will be made throughout the four quarters of 2021, as established in an initial agreement announced on 1 October, the president's office said in a statement.
The deal will allow Costa Rica to provide two doses to 1.5 million people and follows accords with AstraZeneca and the Covax mechanism backed by the World Health Organisation. In total, the agreements should cover about 3 million people, or almost 60% of the Costa Rican population.
The Central American country has so far registered some 142 505 cases of coronavirus and 1 757 related deaths.
- REUTERS
Seoul to shut down most establishments at 21:00 to contain coronavirus - official
South Korea's capital Seoul will require most establishments to close at 21:00 each day, acting Seoul mayor Seo Jeong-hyup told a briefing on Friday, to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The measure takes effect on Saturday and comes after Seoul alone reported 295 new coronavirus infections as of midnight Thursday.
- REUTERS
South Korea reports 629 new coronavirus cases, highest in nine months
SEOUL – South Korea reported 629 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest number in nine months.
Of the new cases, 295 were from capital Seoul alone, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported.
- REUTERS
India records 36 595 new coronavirus cases
MUMBAI – India's daily coronavirus cases rose by less than 40 000 for the fifth straight day, health ministry data showed on Friday, with 36 595 new infections reported in the last 24 hours.
India's daily rate has fallen since the south Asian nation reported the world’s highest such tallies through most of August and September, despite a busy festival season last month that experts had warned could trigger a spike in infections.
Its tally is now at 9.57 million and remains the world’s second-highest after the United States, where there have been nearly 14 million infections.
Deaths in India rose by 540, the ministry said, with the total now at 139 188.
- REUTERS
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 23 449 - RKI
BERLIN – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 23 449 to 1 130 238, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday.
The reported death toll rose by 432 to 18 034, the tally showed.
- REUTERS
Mexico reports 11 030 new coronavirus cases, 608 more deaths
MEXICO CITY – Mexico's health ministry on Thursday reported 11 030 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 608 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1 144 643 cases and 108 173 deaths.
The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
- REUTERS
Russia reports 27 403 new coronavirus cases, 569 deaths
MOSCOW – Russia reported 27 403 new coronavirus cases on Friday, including 6 868 in Moscow, taking the national total to 2 402 949 since the pandemic began.
Authorities also confirmed 569 deaths related to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the official national death toll to 42 176.
- REUTERS
Mainland China reports 17 new Covid-19 cases vs 16 a day earlier
SHANGHAI – Mainland China reported 17 new Covid-19 cases on 3 December, up from 16 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Friday.
The National Health Commission, in a statement, said 15 of the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas. There were also two locally transmitted infections in the Inner Mongolia region, the commission said.
The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 12 from five cases a day earlier.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Mainland China now stands at 86 584, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4 634.
- REUTERS
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