(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Global daily deaths cross record
The number of reported global daily deaths from the coronavirus stood at 10,816 on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, the highest single-day death count.
The previous record of global daily deaths was 10,733, registered on Nov. 4, according to the Reuters tally.
The United States, the worst-affected country worldwide, has reported about 11.38 million infections and 248,574 deaths since the pandemic started.
U.S. medical leaders rebuke Trump
The U.S. medical establishment on Tuesday urged President Donald Trump to share critical COVID-19 data with President-elect Joe Biden’s team to avoid needless, deadly lags in tackling the pandemic.
The extraordinary rebuke came in an open letter from three leading healthcare organizations as state and local governments scrambled to fight the virus in the absence of a coordinated national strategy.
“Real-time data and information on the supply of therapeutics, testing supplies, personal protective equipment, ventilators, hospital bed capacity and workforce availability to plan for further deployment of the nation’s assets needs to be shared to save countless lives,” said the letter, signed by heads of the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and the American Hospitals Association.
Sinovac’s vaccine induces quick immune response
Sinovac Biotech’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac triggered a quick immune response but the level of antibodies produced was lower than in people who had recovered from the disease, preliminary trial results showed on Wednesday.
While the early to mid-stage trials were not designed to assess the efficacy of CoronaVac, researchers said it could provide sufficient protection, based on their experience with other vaccines and data from preclinical studies with macaques.
CoronaVac and four other experimental vaccines developed in China are currently undergoing late-stage trials to determine their effectiveness.
‘Highly contagious’ outbreak in South Australia
South Australia on Wednesday declared a six-day lockdown to stamp out what the state premier described as a highly contagious outbreak of the coronavirus disease that officials linked to a returned traveller from Britain.
Most businesses will close, except for some food outlets, and people will be largely confined to their homes as the state tries to avoid a more severe breakout like the one that all but shuttered neighbouring Victoria for more than 100 days.
“We are going hard and we are going early. Time is of the essence and we must act swiftly and decisively,” South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said.
Infected Russian governor sparks anger
A Russian regional governor’s decision to be treated for COVID-19 in a private Moscow clinic rather than in his own region drew public criticism on Wednesday, as Russia reported a new record daily high of 456 coronavirus-related deaths.
The disparity in healthcare provision between the Russian capital and other regions is something that the Kremlin recognises. It has pumped extra resources into the regions, some of which have complained of staff, equipment and bed shortages, in an effort to narrow that gap.
Vladimir Sipyagin portrayed his decision as an altruistic one, saying he did not want to deprive someone of a hospital bed in his own region, about 180 kilometres (112 miles) east of Moscow.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes; Editing by Alex Richardson)
