Daily roundupFriday's key coronavirus developments from Luxembourg and abroad

Starting with Luxembourg

• The latest figures from Luxembourg show that 179 new cases of coronavirus were discovered over the last 24 hours, while the death toll increased by one.

• Luxembourg’s three main unions issued a joint statement on Friday, confirming initial lawsuits have been filed regarding the implementation of CovidCheck at work.

• An unvaccinated manager at the National Health Directorate and is said to have asked a co-worker to certify him a forged negative PCR test result.

• The general secretary of the Horesca Federation, François Koepp told RTL that while some businesses have found it tough, others have barely noticed a difference.

And abroad

• US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson on Friday announced plans to break up into two listed companies, separating its consumer health arm that sells Band-Aids and Tylenol from its pharmaceutical division.

• Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said Friday he wanted to introduce a nationwide lockdown for those not vaccinated or recovered from coronavirus, as the country struggles with rapidly rising cases.

• Norway will reintroduce nationwide measures to stem surging coronavirus cases, including authorising towns to use health passes, the government announced on Friday.

• German airline Lufthansa said on Friday that it had finished repaying a nine-billion-euro ($10 billon) government bailout that saved it from bankruptcy at the height of pandemic travel curbs.

• The embattled aviation industry will flock to a major air show in Dubai on Sunday as it emerges from pandemic travel restrictions and faces pressure to reduce its impact on climate change

• British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said Friday it has begun to sell its Covid vaccine at a profit as the company posted a third quarter loss on higher costs.

• Multiple Facebook posts have shared a claim that Japan has stopped using vaccines against Covid-19 and prescribed antiparasitic drug ivermectin, ending the pandemic in the country “almost overnight”. But the claims are false; Japan are still administering Covid-19 vaccines. The Japanese authorities have not approved ivermectin as a treatment against Covid-19. Read the Fact Check here.