1. Globally, the total number of coronavirus cases has surpassed 85.64 million on Saturday, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.85 million, as per Johns Hopkins University.
2. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reimposed a lockdown in England on Monday as a more transmissible variant of Covid-19 fuels a surge in infections and hospitalizations across the country.
3. Lebanon orders three-week lockdown for the entire country including a night curfew to break the chain of infection. Starting from January 7, the lockdown will be in effect till Feburary 1.
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4. Mexico approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for emergency use on Monday, AP reports.
5. Brazil confirmed its first two cases of the new variant as a 25-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man were confirmed as having been infected.
6. BioNTech and Pfizer warned they had no evidence their vaccine would continue to work if the booster shot was given later than tested in trials. They said the “safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been evaluated on different dosing schedules”, The Guardian reported.
7. Malaysia reported 1,741 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Monday, bringing the national total to 120,818.
8. Georgia has confirmed the first case of the new variant of COVID-19 that was identified in the United Kingdom, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of the Georgian Health Ministry said on Monday.
9. The Qatari Health Ministry on Monday announced 207 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 144,644, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
10. Thailand’s prime minister urged the public to stay home. Authorities confirmed 745 new infections; the country’s worst daily total and the government declared 28 provinces – including Bangkok – high-risk zones.