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Coronavirus: Latest global developments
PARIS, Dec 6, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
– Easing up in Italy –
Thanks to easing pressure on hospitals, some Italian regions begin relaxing restrictions including Tuscany, Campania and Val d’Aosta.
Residents can now move freely but without leaving their region. Retail businesses — excluding restaurants and bars — reopen. Abruzzo is the only Italian region where people can only leave their homes for work, health reasons or to bring their children to school.
– More than 1,520,000 dead –
The new coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 1,528,919 people around the world since the end of last year, according to a tally by AFP on Sunday.
The United States is the most affected country with 281,199 deaths. Brazil follows with 176,628 dead, India is next with 140,182, Mexico with 109,456, and the United Kingdom 61,014 fatalities.
– Elizabeth II to get vaccine –
The Queen of England Elizabeth II, 94, and her husband Prince Philip, 99, will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine just released in the UK in the coming weeks.
With the highest number of deaths from the virus in Europe, the UK is the first Western country to approve mass injection of a vaccine. British officials see a “probable” significant regression of the pandemic “by spring”.
– Seoul raises alert –
South Korea raises its health alert in Seoul after the detection of 631 new cases on Sunday, a record in nine months. That will mean a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people, professional sports competitions being held behind closed doors and restaurants having to close at 9:00 pm.
“We are facing the biggest crisis in our fight against Covid-19,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun says.
– Indonesian arrest –
Indonesia’s minister of social affairs has been arrested on suspicion of accepting $1.2 million in bribes linked to food aid distributed to people affected by the coronavirus.
The Indonesian economy, the largest in Southeast Asia, has been weighed down by the pandemic and the government has stepped up aid programs, especially food, to support those in need.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1900 hrs