Daily roundupFriday's key coronavirus developments from Luxembourg and abroad

Starting with Luxembourg

• The latest figures from Luxembourg show that 50 new cases of coronavirus were discovered over the last 24 hours. Hospitalisations are up slightly.

• The National Health Laboratory, meanwhile, has found that the Gamma mutation has dropped by 65% compared to last week, based on 365 coronavirus samples. The Delta variant is on the rise, remaining the dominant mutation of the virus in Luxembourg, accounting for 73.7% of sequenced samples, while the Gamma variant lies in second place with 23.9% of infections.

• 72% of Luxembourgers have received at least one vaccine shot against coronavirus, data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reveals. The vaccination rate in Luxembourg still varies drastically with age, with older age groups vaccinated the most.

And abroad

• The UK has launched a £750 million insurance scheme to cover music festivals and other live events as the beleaguered sector seeks protection after months of mass cancellations.

• France‘s top constitutional authority on Thursday approved a Covid pass that limits access to cafes, restaurants and inter-city trains and planes to people who have been vaccinated or tested negative for the virus.

• Meanwhile, a dangerous trend has emerged in France, where young people are trying to infect themselves with Covid in order to become immune faster than with two doses of the vaccine.

• Millions more Mexicans have fallen into poverty because of the coronavirus pandemic, with people living in one of the country’s top tourist destinations hit particularly hard. The number of people living in poverty rose by 3.8 million between 2018 and 2020, to 55.7 million - 43.9% of the population.

• Australia‘s hope of returning to “Covid zero” suffered a fresh blow Friday, as Sydney reported another record number of new infections and authorities warned residents to brace for worse to come.

• The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has said it had so far not found a causal link between coronavirus vaccines and menstrual disorders, but will investigate after vaccine producers have gathered more data.

• Microsoft on Thursday joined the ranks of tech companies requiring returning workers to be vaccinated, as Amazon delayed its plan to reopen offices until next year.

• Wariness and outright hostility to vaccines did not start with Covid-19, they date back to the 18th century when the first shots were given. From real fears sparked by side-effects, to fake studies and conspiracy theories, we take a look at anti-vax sentiment over the ages.

• Three employees at CNN have been fired for violating the network’s coronavirus policy by coming into the office unvaccinated, according to US media reports. Many companies are now forcing employees to be vaccinated, including US airline company United Airlines.