Over 1,000 Covid deaths in Germany, 981 in the UK, 3,725 in the US.

Germany registers 1,129 deaths related to the coronavirus pandemic in 24 hours, a new and sad record according to data from the Robert Koch Institute, which also reports 22,459 new cases of contagion. According to the figures provided by the Institute, in Germany there are more than 1.68 million cases of Covid-19 since the start of the health emergency with 32,107 deaths and around 1.3 million people recovered.

The incidence of infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last week reached a value of 141.3. With the general lockdown in effect from December 16 to January 10 to contain the pandemic, the German federal government intends to reduce the figure to 50.

Runaway pandemic in the US Covid does not loosen its grip. Covid deaths in the United States on Tuesday were 3,725. December is proving to be the worst month for the United States in terms of the number of coronavirus deaths since the beginning of the year: the deaths so far have been 70,395 and 5.9 million infected. In the United States, the peak is even “out of control”, warns the first virologist Anthony Fauci, who will also lead the pandemic dossier in the Biden administration. He is particularly concerned about the delay in the vaccine distribution schedule and the effects of the end-of-year holidays: “When you leave a large number of people traveling or having dinner indoors, that’s when you find yourself in trouble,” he stressed. And just look at this number: Nearly 1.3 million Americans cleared airport security on Sunday, the highest level since March.

Great Britain is the deadliest on the Old Continent, ok with the Astrazeneca vaccine. The latest bulletin says 50,000 new positives and 981 deaths. The area of ​​the UK where the strictest movement restrictions were needed, at level four, is expanding. This was announced by the Minister of Health, Matt Hancock, before the House of Commons, recognizing that cases are increasing and that the increasing number of hospitalizations “demonstrates the need to act where the virus spreads.” Most of the new cases, he added, are due to the new variant, which is spreading across much of England, where cases are rapidly doubling. The new affected areas are the remaining parts of the south-east, as well as much of the Midlands, the north-east and the south-west of England. Level three restrictions will also extend to Liverpool and North Yorkshire. The changes will go into effect tonight, midnight. ‘Level 4’, the most difficult level of lockdown, requires a “stay at home” order and implies that businesses such as non-essential stores, hair salons and gyms must close. Boris Johnson announces that the reopening of schools in areas of Britain where the coronavirus situation is most critical will be postponed until January 18.

Meanwhile, the green light for the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine comes to the UK – the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (Mhra) has turned on the green light. “With two licensed vaccines – underlines the Downing Street note – we will be able to vaccinate a greater number of people who are at high risk, protecting them from the disease and reducing mortality and hospitalizations.”

France considers restrictions. We also have new measures in France, where President Emmanuel Macron has convened a health defense council to assess restrictions that had been relaxed for the holidays. Above all, the increase in infections in the Greater East region is worrying and, according to the National Scientific Council, “the uncontrolled resumption of the epidemic in January is likely to be”.

Brazil also more than a thousand dead. There are 1,111 deaths from Covid-19
registered in Brazil in the last 24 hours, reveals the Ministry of Health. This is the highest number of victims in one day since last September 15, when the dead were 1,113. Since the start of the pandemic, the death toll has risen to 192,681.
There were 58,718 new infections, for a total of 7,563,551.

Latin America also exceeds 500,000 deaths. Latin America is, after
Europe, the second region in the world to exceed 500,000 deaths from coronavirus. The 29 nations in the area have registered at least 500,818 Covid victims, the majority in Brazil (192,681) and Mexico (122,855), compared to the 559,334 deaths reported by Europe. 352,478 deaths were reported in the United States and Canada, 217,224 in Asia.

Sinopharm 79% effective. The Chinese Sinopharm has announced that one of its Covid-19 vaccines is 79% effective, less than US competitors Pfizer and Moderna, they said. Sinopharm is the first Chinese pharmaceutical group to report data on the efficacy of a vaccine in preparation. Chinese authorities have started vaccinating more than a million people with products that they have not yet formally validated.

The Cuban vaccine arrives. Cuba will be able to inoculate its entire population with its own coronavirus vaccine in the first half of 2021, said a prominent health director. The country is in a position to “immunize the Cuban population in the first half of 2021,” said Vicente Vèrez Bencomo, director of the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV), as quoted by the official newspaper Granma. Two vaccines are being tested and both would have shown good results in terms of safety and immune response, but “Sovereign 02 in particular, due to its characteristics, showed an early immune response (at 14 days), which allows us to move to the Phase 2 of the fastest clinical trial. ”Cuba, with 11.2 million inhabitants, registered 11,434 cases and 143 deaths as of Sunday, low figures compared to neighboring countries.