Koronawirus

The former French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who is credited with transforming postwar France and encouraging European integration, has died aged 94 from complications linked to Covid-19.more

Tesco has said it will repay the £585 million it saved from the Government’s business rates holiday introduced during the coronavirus pandemic.more

Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that the coronavirus shutdown in Germany will be extended yet again until January 10th.more

More than half of Britons are eager to adopt the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, and more than half believe it should be mandatory, according to a Savanta ComRes survey published yesterday.more

A semi-autonomous disinfecting robot to combat COVID-19 was built at the West Pomeranian University of Technology (ZUT) in Szczecin. The radio-controlled device can, inter alia, spray disinfectant indoors.more

Military experts in Canada dealt with the organization of logistics regarding the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. In turn, the media is looking at how the experience of ice cream producers can be useful in vaccinating Canadians.more

The United Kingdom recorded 16,170 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday and 648 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the virus, according to official data. Tuesday's data had shown 13,430 new coronavirus infections and 603 deaths.more

Families could spend at least six days together over Christmas if ‘unforseen disruption to travel’ stops people from returning home.more

Lifting the pandemic restrictions ahead of Christmas could increase the number of hospital admissions in the first week of January, warned the head of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Andrea Ammon. "Despite the upcoming holidays, it is not the time to loosen the restrictions," she added.more

Holiday firm Lastminute.com has agreed to repay more than £7m owed to customers whose package holidays were cancelled due to the Covid-19 crisis.more

There are no plans to introduce a "vaccine passport" to give people access to places such as pubs and restaurants once a coronavirus jab becomes available, says Michael Gove.more

Newcastle United’s trip to Aston Villa on Friday has been postponed after the north-east club reported a “significant” rise in positive Covid-19 test results – a number believed to run into double figures – and the Premier League board agreed to defer the game.more

Business is booming for Pete Hyde, owner of Trinity Street Christmas Trees in Dorset. more

The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine.more

Britain on Tuesday reported 13,430 new COVID-19 cases and 603 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, both up on Monday’s tallies, according to government data.more

A quarter of all confirmed cases of coronavirus infections in Finland have been diagnosed in non-native populations whose mother tongue is Russian, Somali, Arabic or Kurdish.more

England has returned to a tiered system of coronavirus restrictions after its second national lockdown ended. The tougher new system came into force on Wednesday after being approved by MPs in a Commons vote on Tuesday.more

The domestic airlines have announced resuming mountain view flights from next week after eight months of closure, as economic activities have started to pick-up again and return to normal, including all tourism-related activities.more

Ireland’s second lockdown ends today as non-essential retail outlets, churches, gyms, hairdressers and other businesses open their doors for the first time in six weeks.more

Debenhams stores are set to close after the failure of last-ditch efforts to rescue the ailing store chainmore

The world economy will make a spectacular comeback aided by vaccine rollouts and government support, the OECD says. But by then, the pandemic will have dealt some painful, enduring blows in many countries.more

Drinkers in tier two areas of England could order a Scotch egg with their pint to keep in line with post-lockdown rules, a cabinet minister has said.more

More than one-third of kids who have COVID-19 are asymptomatic, according to a University of Alberta study that suggests youngsters diagnosed with the disease may represent just a fraction of those infected.more

England and Wales' contact-tracing app is to add a Self-Isolation Payment feature as soon as next week.more

Ottawa is extending a slew of travel restrictions and rules meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic into the new year as case counts continue their steady rise across the country.more