Coronavirus Watch.

Global Statistics

Confirmed cases of the Coronavirus are now approximately 72,63 million and deaths recorded are at 1,61 million. 

The US is on the brink of marking the sad milestone of 300,000 dead from coronavirus in just under a year. 
Thousands of vials of the long-awaited Covid-19 vaccine are slated to arrive in all 50 states Monday, as top US health officials express hope that health care workers can begin administering the injections immediately.

 For the 12th consecutive day, there were more than 100,000 Covid-19 patients in US Hospitals, according to the COVID Tracking Project, with a record 109,331 patients on Sunday.

The average number of new daily cases over the last week was 210,764, another pandemic high, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins data.

Brazil reported 21,395 additional confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and 276 fatalities from Covid-19, its Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The South American country has now registered 6,901,990 cases since the pandemic began, while its official death toll has risen to 181,419, according to ministry data.

Germany will go into a “hard” national lockdown, starting next week and continuing through the Christmas period, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday, after agreeing to stricter measures with state governments to stem a wave of coronavirus cases. 
As of next Wednesday, all non-essential shops, services and schools will close until January 10, and Christmas Day gatherings will be reduced from 10 people to only five from two different households.

 Despite the country’s respected health system and early success in containing the virus, a recent partial lockdown has failed to stop the second-wave surge.

Germany reported record daily deaths on Friday, with 598 fatalities tallied in a span of 24 hours.

South Africa has registered a further 7 999 new coronavirus (COVID-19) bringing the cumulative number of cases to 860 964.

This comes as the country expects President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the nation on 14 December on the country’s response to the increasing numbers of infections, with many expecting stricter regulations as the country deals with the second wave. 

70 more COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, with the Eastern Cape recording the most number of fatalities at 94, this brings the total deaths to 23 276.

There were 27 new cases that were recorded in Zimbabwe to bring the total number of cases to 11,246. No new death was recorded. Recoveries are now at 9,451 and active cases are at 1,488. 

Formerly known as Swaziland, the kingdom of Eswatini has reported over 6,700 coronavirus cases and 127 deaths among its population of 1.2 million people. 
Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who tested positive for COVID-19 four weeks ago, has died at age 52 after being hospitalised in neighbouring South Africa.

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14/12/2020

(Source: Kitco)