As optimistic as we are about the potential for an effective vaccine being close at hand, the current reality is that COVID-19 is a still raging pandemic around the globe. The difficulties of coping with lockdowns, re-openings, quarantines, frustrated citizens, struggling businesses, unemployment, over-crowded hospitals and overworked health care workers is facing governments everywhere. For travel and tourism 2020 has been especially devastating and we can only hope that smoother seas lie ahead. Meanwhile here’s a brief rundown on what’s happening elsewhere.
United States
US President-elect Joe Biden has announced the members of his coronavirus task force, which will put together a blueprint for fighting the pandemic.
Notable among the task force members is Rick Bright, a vaccine expert who had filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was reassigned to a lesser job because he resisted political pressure to allow widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug pushed by Donald Trump as a COVID-19 treatment.
Other members include doctors and scientists who have served in previous administrations, including experts in public health, vaccines and infectious diseases.
Biden says dealing with the pandemic is “one of the most important battles” his administration will face. Public health officials warn that the nation is entering the worst stretch yet for COVID-19 as winter sets in and the holiday season approaches.
The US is now averaging more than 100,000 new coronavirus infections a day.
Hospitals in several states are running out of space and staff, and the death toll is soaring. So far, the US has recorded more than 9.8 million infections and more than 237,000 deaths from COVID-19.
Great Britain
A 17-day “firebreak” lockdown in Wales that saw schools and businesses shut has ended, with the government saying it’s too soon to say whether it has been enough to curb a surge in coronavirus cases.
The Welsh government imposed the restrictions on Wales’ 3 million people on Oct. 23, two weeks before Prime Minister Boris Johnson put England into a 28-day lockdown.
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said there were some signs that the lockdown had worked, with the 7-day average for the number of new coronavirus cases falling from 250 per 100,000 people to just under 220 cases per 100,000.
Under looser restrictions starting Monday, people can again meet in small groups, and businesses including pubs, restaurants and hairdressers can reopen. Nonessential travel to and from England remains barred and people are being urged to keep working from home it they can.
Germany
Germany’s health minister says the increase in new coronavirus infections appears to be levelling off in the country but it’s too early to talk about a reversal of the trend.
Germany is one week into a four-week partial shutdown that’s meant to help prevent the health system from being overwhelmed. Restaurants, bars, sports and leisure facilities have been closed and new contact restrictions introduced, though schools and shops remain open.
New infections have continued to increase, reaching a new one-day record of 23,399 on Saturday. The country’s national disease control centre on Monday reported 13,363 cases in the previous 24 hours, up from 12,097 a week earlier. Figures are typically lower on Sundays and Mondays because fewer tests are conducted over the weekend.
Health Minister Jens Spahn said Monday “we are seeing that the momentum is flattening, that we have less strong increases. But of course that is not the aim: we don’t want less strong increases, we have to get the figures down.”
Germany, which has 83 million people, has recorded 671,868 coronavirus cases since the pandemic started. Another 63 deaths were reported Monday, bringing the total to 11,352.
Italy
Doctors warn that while Italy for now has enough ICU beds for COVID-19 patients, it won’t have enough specialists to care for them all if the numbers of new infections keep rapidly rising.
Filippo Anelli, who is president of the national association of doctors, told state TV on Monday that hospitals have reached “critical levels” and cited the growing lines of ambulances parked by hospitals with patients inside waiting for bed space.
Recently in Naples, nurses started checking on ailing persons sitting in their cars as they waited to access emergency rooms. Anelli said while Italy now has a total of 11,000 ICU beds, after 5,000 of them are filled, there won’t be a sufficient number of anesthesiologists to care for the patients occupying them.
As of Sunday, 2,749 ICU beds were filled nationwide. Doctors and other health experts have been pressing the Italian government to lock down the entire country, like it was this spring.
Regional representatives and health ministry experts were conferring on Monday to see which other regions need to be declared “red zones.”
Belgium
Belgian health authorities are confident a renewed surge of hospital admissions related to COVID-19 has peaked in the hard-hit country. Some 6,948 patients are currently being treated in Belgian hospitals following a COVID-19-infection. It’s about 500 less than on Nov. 3.
To break the chain of contamination, Belgium has returned to partial lockdown measures including closing nonessential shops, bars and restaurants, as well as extending the autumn school vacation.
The measures seem to have had an impact, as the number of patients in intensive care is also tending to stabilize. There were fears last month that Belgium would reach its maximum capacity for COVID-19 patients in intensive care by mid-November.
Hungary
The Hungarian government has announced the strictest measures taken to date in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic amid a dramatic uptick in hospitalizations and deaths.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Monday that a general curfew would be imposed nationwide between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. with the exception of those commuting to work. Businesses must close after 7 p.m., restaurants will be limited to home delivery, sporting events will be held in empty stadiums, and family gatherings will be limited to 10 people, Orban said. A general ban on events will also be introduced.
Universities and high schools will transition to digital education, while preschools, kindergartens and classes for children 14 and under will remain open. Healthcare workers, teachers and childcare workers will be tested weekly for the virus, according to the statement.
The newest restrictions will take effect at midnight Tuesday and remain in place for 30 days, after which they may be extended, Orban said. The Hungarian Parliament is expected to pass a measure on Tuesday which will enact a state of emergency for 90 days.
The raft of measures comes after a week of record-breaking hospitalizations and deaths. On Saturday, 107 people died of COVID-19, the highest daily total since the start of the pandemic, and more than 6,000 coronavirus patients were being treated in hospitals on Tuesday – also a record.
Portugal
Portugal has entered a state of emergency, with curfews imposed in the areas worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
From Monday and for at least two weeks, some 7 million people – around 70% of the country’s population – must remain at home on weekdays between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.. On the weekends, they cannot leave home after 1 p.m.
The government has warned that the state of emergency, which grants authorities special powers, may be prolonged and measures may be tightened if the spread of the new coronavirus does not slow.
The number of virus cases and hospital admissions in Portugal has climbed sharply in recent weeks. The country has seen 2,896 virus-related deaths.
Russia
Russia on Monday reported a record number of new coronavirus infections but a daily death toll well below the highest toll. The national coronavirus task force said 21,798 new cases were recorded, more than 1,000 more than the previous daily tally. It said there were 256 new deaths; the highest daily death toll is 389, recorded on Nov. 4.
Overall, Russia has tallied about 1,796,000 infections and 30,793 deaths but officials say there is no need for another national lockdown.
China
China’s financial hub of Shanghai has reported a cargo worker at the city’s main international airport has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting authorities to seal-off and disinfect his workplace and other locations he visited over the past two weeks.
The Shanghai health authority said the 51-year-old man, identified only by his surname Wang, had driven himself to a local hospital on Sunday with symptoms. China has largely contained the spread of the virus domestically and it was unclear how the man had become infected.
China on Monday reported just 33 new cases, 32 of them brought from outside the country and one in the port city of Tianjin a short drive from Beijing.
China has recorded 86,245 cases and 4,634 deaths since the virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
Czech Republic
Coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic have started to decline after a two-month rise to record high levels, thanks to a series of new coronavirus restrictions.
The Health Ministry says the day-to-day increase of the new confirmed cases dropped to 3,608 on Sunday, the lowest since Oct 11. A lower number of tests is usually carried out over the weekends but the number who tested positive dropped by almost 3,000 compared with the previous Sunday.
The confirmed cases reached a record daily high of 15,727 cases on Wednesday and has been declining since. In another promising sign, the number of hospitalized dropped by some 500 to 7,779.
The Czech Republic has had 414,828 test positive while 4,858 have died.
INDIA
India has reported 45,903 new coronavirus cases, with its capital recording the highest single-day rise in infections since the pandemic began. The Health Ministry on Monday also reported 490 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities in the country to 126,611.
New Delhi’s increase of 7,745 cases comes during a recent surge the government has attributed to crowding in markets during the ongoing festive season, winter weather and high air pollution.
The capital’s air quality levels are plummeting to the “severe” category. A recent government report projected New Delhi may see up to 15,000 daily cases in the winter months.
India has counted more than 8.5 million cases since the pandemic began, the second-highest total behind the US
WHO
The World Health Organization’s chief says his agency is committed to “continuous accountability” as an independent panel evaluating WHO’s management of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic gets ready to brief the organization’s countries this week.
In a speech Monday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said WHO welcomes “any and all efforts to strengthen the organization,” months after the organization bowed to demands from member countries to start an independent probe evaluating the COVID-19 response.
Tedros also pleaded for more money for the organization, saying there was a “shocking” imbalance between WHO’s annual budget and the expectations countries have of it.
He said WHO’s budget is equivalent to the amount the globe spends on tobacco products in a single day.
Tedros thanked donors for the US $1.6 billion they have provided to WHO’s COVID-19 strategy.