Evening roundupFriday's key coronavirus developments in Luxembourg and abroad

Starting with Luxembourg

• The latest figures from the Ministry of Health show that 227 new cases of coronavirus were discovered yesterday from 8,646 tests in total.

• New restrictions may be necessary, says PM Xavier Bettel, after cases rise in Luxembourg.

• The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has updated its map of travel restrictions. Seventeen countries, including Luxembourg, are rated red. Read more about it here.

• Health officials have repeatedly advised that getting the flu vaccine is more important that ever this autumn. Getting vaccinated can help to avoid an additional assault on the immune system in times of Covid-19, but it can also eliminate the flu as a possible cause for common symptoms.

• Coronavirus-affected workers should receive 80% of pay across all sectors, the federation of artisans said.

• The SNE union has appealed to the relevant political authorities to acknowledge that the virus is spreading through schools, and has urged the Ministry of Education to react.

• Horesca has issued a statement asking its members to respect the different distancing rules as well as curfews, in order to avoid a potential second lockdown.

And around the world

• [block type="summary”]The number of coronavirus infections has continued to explode over the past week in Europe, but has declined in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. A weekly roundup from AFP’s specialised database.

  • Belgium will close all cafes and restaurants for four weeks on Monday as it seeks to tackle a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. The move was announced by deputy prime minister Georges Gilkinet following a meeting of the Belgian government’s crisis unit.

  • Millions of French people were looking forward to a last night of freedom on Friday before a Covid-19 curfew in Paris and other large cities comes into force for a least a month, prompted by an alarming surge in new cases.
  • Portugal’s government is in damage control mode after it triggered widespread outrage and ignored EU guidelines with plans to make a Covid-19 contract tracing app compulsory.
  • Cristiano Ronaldo may have violated Italian coronavirus measures by travelling to Portugal while Juventus were in isolation, returning to Turin this week after testing positive, Italy’s sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday.
  • Roughly half of England is now under tougher coronavirus restrictions, after the government on Thursday announced more stringent measures for London and seven other areas to try to cut surging numbers of cases.
  • A 16th birthday party in New York state became a super-spreader event with dozens of attendees contracting coronavirus, according to officials.
  • Australians living under lockdown in the southeast of the country are eyeing a return of freedoms this weekend as coronavirus numbers reached a four-month low Friday.

  • Should Brussels return to virtual EU summits? The debate was relaunched this week after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin left an EU leaders meeting largely devoted to Brexit to go into self-isolation.

  • US presidential candidate Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris suspended travel Thursday after her communications director tested positive for Covid-19, the campaign said, adding that Harris had not come into “close contact” with the staffer.
  • Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday made her first public visit outside a royal residence since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, visiting a top secret research lab but appearing without a face mask.