Coronavirus updates, December 11: Latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from Pakistan and around the world

Pakistan's COVID-19 tally rose to 432,327 on Friday after 3,047 new cases were detected in the past 24 hours across the country.

The province-wise break up of the total number of cases as of 9:00 am, December 11, is as follows:

Total confirmed cases: 432,327

• AJK: 7,578

• Balochistan: 17,650

• Gilgit-Baltistan: 4,770

• Islamabad Capital Territory: 34,014

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 51,172

• Punjab: 125,897

• Sindh: 191,246

Deaths: 8,653

• AJK: 186

• Balochistan: 173

• Gilgit-Baltistan: 98

• Islamabad Capital Territory: 353

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 1,450

• Punjab: 3,284

• Sindh: 3,109

More than 69,524,946 infections have been confirmed globally with over 1,580,727 deaths, according to the John Hopkins University tally.

End of live updates for December 11

9:29pm — Rome, Italy — 761 COVID-19 deaths, 18,727 new cases reported

Italy reported 761 coronavirus-related deaths against 887 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections increased to 18,727 from 16,999.

There were 190,416 swabs carried out in the past day, up from a previous 171,586, the ministry said.

The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has seen 63,387 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain.

8:11pm — Ottawa, Canada — Health officials forecasts show coronavirus spreading rapidly, more action needed 

Longer-range forecasts show a second wave of the coronavirus is still spreading rapidly through Canada and more action is needed by all the major provinces, federal health authorities said.

A forecast by Canada's chief public health officer showed that by Dec 25, the domestic cumulative death toll could be between 14,410 to 14,920, with thes ok, gavcvirus to jon total number of cases ranging from 531,300 to 577,000.

7:45pm — Washington, US — FDA 'working rapidly' on Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine decision

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was working rapidly to issue an emergency use authorization for Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, setting the stage for the first Americans to be immunized as soon as Monday or Tuesday.

The FDA's decision making follows one of the last steps of its regulatory process: a panel of outside advisers on Thursday evening endorsed emergency use of the vaccine to help stem a pandemic that has killed more than 285,000 US residents.

US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, which oversees the FDA, told ABC News that regulatory authorization should come within days and the federal government would work with the company to get the vaccine shipped out.

Pfizer has asked that the two-dose vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech, be approved for use in people aged 16 to 85.

The companies last month said that a two-dose regimen of the vaccine was 95% effective in preventing illness from COVID-19, and detailed data released in the FDA's documents showed the vaccine began showing some protection even before volunteers received a second dose.

7:20pm — London, UK — COVID R rate rises slightly to between 0.9 and 1.0

Britain's estimated reproduction "R" number has increased slightly to between 0.9 and 1.0, from 0.8-1.0 a week ago, government scientists said.

While scientists were confident that the epidemic was shrinking in some areas in England, it was not confident the R number was below 1 in London, the southeast and the east of England.

The growth rate was between -2% and 0%, a slight rise from last week, indicating the number of new infections was shrinking between 0% and 2% each day.

6:38pm — Stockholm, Sweden —  Sweden registers 7,370 new COVID-19 cases, 160 deaths

Sweden, whose unorthodox pandemic strategy placed it in the global spotlight, registered 7,370 new coronavirus cases, Health Agency statistics showed.

The increase compared with a high of 7,935 daily cases recorded on Thursday.

Sweden registered 160 new deaths, taking the total to 7,514. Sweden's death rate per capita is several times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours but lower than several European countries that opted for lockdowns. 

4:55pm — Budapest, Hungary — Govt plans fast-track local approval for Chinese COVID vaccine

Hungary will seek emergency domestic approval of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine rather than waiting as normal for a review by the EU's European Medicines Agency (EMA), Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on his Facebook page.

"The safety of the vaccine is not a political or ideological question, but a professional one," he said. "If the experts make a positive decision, we will immediately begin drafting the contract to import the vaccine."

He said Hungary had received the required documentation on Friday, without naming the vaccine or the manufacturer.

Britain similarly used an emergency dispensation in European Union rules to allow its own scientists to approve a Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for domestic use - although the EMA bristled, saying its longer procedure was more appropriate and based on more evidence.

4:00pm — Jakarta, Indonesia — Indonesia reports record number of daily number of COVID-19 deaths

Indonesia on Friday reported 6,310 coronavirus infections and 175 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in a day, data from the country's COVID-19 task force showed.

With Friday's data, Indonesia's total number of cases rose to 605,243, while the number of deaths rose to 18,511, both are the highest tallies in Southeast Asia.

3:45pm — Peshawar, Pakistan — Private school sealed for violating coronavirus SOPs

A private school in Peshawar was sealed for violating the coronavirus SOPs, said the district administration on Friday.

The school was sealed as it had asked students to come everyday despite the government announcement to close them. 

2:30pm — Peshawar, Pakistan — KP Health Department shares video on use of mask

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department on Friday shared an explanatory video regarding masks on Friday.

The Health department shared that droplets coming out of a person while they sneeze, and cough become a cause for the spread of the coronavirus.

The health department urged people to wear masks, keep washing hands and maintain a distance of six feet.  

2:00pm — Karachi, Pakistan — Over 10,000 people await their coronavirus test results in Karachi

Test reports of over 10,000 people from Karachi are stuck in the backlog, said the health department on Friday.

According to the health department, 10,623 people from Karachi are awaiting their test results.

A further breakdown of the data showed that 3,526 test results are withheld in District Central, 2,150 in District East, 1,384 in District Korangi, 1,038 in District South, 976 in District Malir.

The health department said that test results were awaited as the laboratories either have not been paid or do not have the kits to carry out the tests. 

1:30pm — Manila Philippines — ADB launches $9 bln COVID-19 vaccine facility for developing members

The Asian Development Bank said on Friday it has launched a $9 billion facility to help members access and distribute COVID-19 vaccines.

Called the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX), it will offer "rapid and equitable support" to its developing members as they procure and roll out coronavirus vaccines.

More than 14.3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 200,000 deaths have been recorded in Asia and the Pacific, the ADB said.

1:00pm — Moscow, Russia — Russia reports record 613 coronavirus deaths overnight, cases climb

Russia reported a record 613 deaths related to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours on Friday, taking its official death toll from the pandemic to 45,893.

Authorities confirmed 28,585 new coronavirus infections nationally, including 7,215 in Moscow, pushing the national case total to 2,597,711. 

12:30pm — Karachi, Pakistan — Three doctors lose their lives to COVID-19 

Three doctors from Karachi lost their lives to the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, said the health department on Friday.

The health department said that Dr Tahir Amin Chaudhry who had retired from the Jinnah Hospital was one of the casualties. It added that Dr Wasimuddin working at a private hospital also lost his life to coronavirus.

The provincial health department also shared that former director general health Dr Abdul Sattar Korai was also one of the doctors that lost his life to the coronavirus. It added that the doctor was on a ventilator since the last few days.

12:15pm — Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine reports new daily high of coronavirus deaths

The number of daily coronavirus deaths in Ukraine rose to 285 from the previous record of 276 fatalities registered on Dec. 9, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on Friday.

He said 13,514 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 872,228 cases with 14,755 deaths. 

12:00pm — Karachi, Pakistan — Sindh approaches WHO to provide free coronavirus vaccine to underprivileged people

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho has sought the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) assistance for procurement and provision of the best-available coronavirus vaccine for the impoverished people in Sindh.

She said that the vaccine should be available to those who could not afford it, who have comorbidities, and who are the front-liners serving in the health sector.

Speaking on the inauguration of the refurbished Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI) centres with the help of WHO on Thursday, Pechuho said: “We should start preparing a plan for the procurement, storage, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine so that when we have it in our hands, we are able to use it effectively."

We need WHO’s assistance in its procurement, storage, cold-chain management, and distribution so that we could vaccinate our elderly people and those who have comorbidities but they can’t afford it, she stressed.

Read more here. 

11:30am — Mumbai, India — India hits 9.8 million coronavirus cases

India recorded 29,398 new coronavirus infections, data from the health ministry showed on Friday, continuing its trend of declining daily cases.

India has recorded 9.8 million cases so far, the world's second-highest number of infections, but daily numbers have dipped steadily since hitting a peak in September.

Deaths rose by 414, with the total now at 142,186, the ministry said.

11:00am — Berlin, Germany — Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 29,875

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 29,875 to 1,272,078, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday.

The reported death toll rose by 598 to 20,970.

10:30am — Mexico City, Mexico — Mexico reports 11,897 new coronavirus cases, 671 more deaths

Mexico's health ministry on Thursday reported 11,897 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 671 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1,217,126 cases and 112,326 deaths.

The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

10:15am — Seoul, South Korea — South Korea reports 689 new coronavirus cases

South Korea on Friday reported 689 new coronavirus cases, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.

Of the new cases, 673 were locally transmitted, which brings the total tally to 40,786, with 572 deaths.

10:00am — Shanghai, China — China reports 15 new COVID-19 cases vs 12 a day earlier

Mainland China reported 15 new COVID-19 cases on Dec. 10, up from 12 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Friday.

The National Health Commission said in a statement nine of the new cases were imported infections originating from abroad. Of the six locally transmitted cases, four were reported in Sichuan province and two in Heilongjiang province.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to seven from five a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the mainland was now at 86,688, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

9:30am — Islamabad, Pakistan — Country's national positivity ratio at 7.15%

Pakistan's national positivity ratio stood at 7.15%, reported the National Command and Operation Centre on Friday. 

The NCOC, in its morning update, said that city wise the highest positivity ratio was observed in Karachi which was at 18.43%, followed by Mirpur 14.29% and Peshawar 11.68%.

9:15am — US FDA advisory panel votes in favor of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine

A panel of outside advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to endorse emergency use of Pfizer Inc's coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for the agency to authorize the shot for a nation that has lost more than 285,000 lives to COVID-19.

The committee voted 17-4 in favor that the known benefits of the vaccine, developed by Pfizer with Germany's BioNTech , outweighed the risks in adults 16 years and older of taking the shot, with one member of the panel abstaining.

9:00am — Paris, France — Amnesty says rich countries hoarding vaccine

Human rights group Amnesty International has warned that only one in 10 people in poor countries are set to receive COVID-19 vaccines in 2021, while rich nations have “hoarded” three times the amount of shots they need.

Amnesty International is part of an alliance of human rights organisations called The People’s Vaccine, which published the alarming report on Wednesday.

The group of organisations said rich nations representing just 14% of the world’s population have bought up 53% of all the most promising vaccines. The situation would leave 67 poorer states able to only cover 10% of their population unless governments and the pharmaceutical industry take urgent action.

The organizations examined data analyzing the deals secured between countries and the manufacturers of eight leading vaccine candidates to come to their conclusions. Amnesty notes that just five of the 67 poor countries on its list – Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan and Ukraine – have reported nearly 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 between them.