(Reuters) - Global COVID-19 cases hit 60 million on Wednesday, while millions of Americans traveled for Thanksgiving, turning a blind eye to official warnings, record hospitalizations and a surging death toll.
- Germany reported a record 410 deaths over 24 hours just before federal state leaders and Chancellor Angela Merkel were due to discuss an extension of pandemic-related restrictions into December and for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
- Spain’s prime minister said his government was considering limiting Christmas celebrations to gatherings of six people.
- The Americas reported more than 1.5 million cases in the last seven days, the highest weekly number since the start of the pandemic, the WHO regional branch PAHO said.
- Panama’s government said it has signed an agreement with drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech to purchase 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
- Researchers led by the WHO would like to go back to a wholesale food market in Wuhan in China to follow up initial cases which emerged in the city and investigate how the virus probably first spread from bats.
- Tokyo will urge shorter working hours for bars and restaurants and ask residents to stay indoors as much as possible.
- Singapore, which once had the highest COVID-19 rate in Southeast Asia, said it was nearly virus-free.
ALSO SEE: ASSOCIATED PRESS INTERNATIONAL ROUNDUP
