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- India's coronavirus infections reached a total of 7.76 million, with 54 366 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours.
- Germany is making preparations to start vaccinations against the coronavirus before the end of the year, Bild daily reported.
- Traces of Covid-19 can be successfully detected in sewage, helping to give health officials an early warning of local outbreaks of the virus.
India's coronavirus cases tally hits 7.8 million
India's coronavirus infections reached a total of 7.76 million, with 54 366 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours, data from the federal health ministry showed on Friday.
The world's second-most populous country also has the world's second-highest caseload, behind the United States, which has 8.3 million infections so far.
Deaths in India have been relatively low, with 117 306 mortalities from the coronavirus, out of which 690 were reported in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.
Reuters
Germany readies for coronavirus vaccine before end of year -Bild
Germany is making preparations to start vaccinations against the coronavirus before the end of the year, Bild daily reported on Friday.
The health ministry plans to create 60 special vaccination centres to ensure the vaccines can be stored at the proper temperature and has asked the country's 16 federal states to provide addresses for them by 10 November, Bild reported without citing its sources.
At a video conference earlier this week, Health Minister Jens Spahn, who himself tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, said Germany's BioNTech was close to getting a vaccine approved, Bild cited participants as saying.
Asked when he expected the first vaccinations, Spahn replied: "That could happen before the end of the year," participants told Bild.
Reuters
Sewage can reveal Covid outbreaks, UK project finds
Traces of Covid-19 can be successfully detected in sewage, helping to give health officials an early warning of local outbreaks of the virus, the British government said on Friday.
A project, originally launched in June, has now proved that fragments of genetic material from the virus can be detected in waste water, indicating if a local community or institution is experiencing a spike in cases.
The government said this would allow health officials to identify large outbreaks especially where there were carriers not displaying any symptoms and to encourage people to get tested or take precautions.
"This is a significant step forward in giving us a clearer idea of infection rates both nationally and locally, particularly in areas where there may be large numbers of people who aren’t showing any symptoms and therefore aren’t seeking tests," Environment Secretary George Eustice said.
The sewage-testing project has been working successfully in southwest England and has now been extended to 90 wastewater sites covering 22% of England, the government said, adding it aimed to expand it in future.
Reuters
Czech health minister caught breaking virus rules
The Czech health minister was under fire on Friday after a tabloid photographer caught him leaving a restaurant that should have been closed under his own anti-virus restrictions.
Roman Prymula, an epidemiologist who has been in office since September, also failed to wear a face mask when he got in his car with a driver, the Blesk daily reported.
His actions drew criticism from social media users, the opposition and even the governing coalition, as the Czech Republic records the worst new Covid-19 figures across Europe.
"The rules must be valid for everyone, without exception," Interior Minister Jan Hamacek, the head of the government's crisis committee, said in a statement quoted by the CTK news agency.
"He cannot go on as health minister."
AFP
Poland restricts public gatherings to 5 as coronavirus cases climb
Poland increased coronavirus restrictions on Friday as it faced a new daily case record, restricting public gatherings to five people, switching all students above the third grade to distance learning and leaving restaurants open only for takeout food.
"Elementary schools from grades four to eight will switch to distance learning in order to reduce social contacts," Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference on Friday.
Reuters
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