Daily roundupMonday's key coronavirus developments from Luxembourg and abroad

Starting with Luxembourg

• The latest figures from Luxembourg show that 178 new cases of coronavirus were discovered over the last 72 hours.

• Prime Minster Xavier Bettel will hold his annual State of the Union speech tomorrow - follow it live here as of 2.30pm.

And abroad

• Vaccination is highly effective at preventing severe cases of Covid-19, even against the Delta variant, a vast study in France has shown. The research looked at 22 million people over 50. It is the largest study of its kind - more here.

• US pharmaceutical giant Merck on Monday applied for emergency use authorisation of its oral anti-Covid drug in the United States, a major step towards finding a simple pill to treat the disease.

• British pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca on Monday revealed more positive results from a trial of a treatment for Covid-19 symptoms. The drug, made from a combination of two antibodies, achieved a “statistically significant reduction in severe Covid-19 or death” in non-hospitalised patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms, AstraZeneca said in a statement.

• New Zealand announced Monday a sweeping “no jab, no job” policy for most healthcare workers and teachers to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

• Elated Sydneysiders celebrated the end of almost four months of coronavirus lockdown on Monday, putting behind them a period of “blood, sweat and no beers” in Australia’s largest city.

• The historic Hong Kong Open golf was postponed for a second consecutive year due to the coronavirus pandemic with suitable dates for “early 2022" under consideration, organisers said on Monday.