Daily roundupSaturday's key coronavirus developments from Luxembourg and abroad

Starting with Luxembourg

• It is the fifth vaccine to be used in Europe, but the first based on conventional technology. Vaccination with Novavax will start from Tuesday, 1 March, at noon in three vaccination centres.

And abroad

• Hong Kong has recorded another sharp rise in daily infection numbers in the Corona pandemic. The number of new infections within 24 hours climbed to 17,063, public health officials announced. In addition, 66 deaths were reported.

• Coronavirus has killed at least 5,925,534 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources Friday.

• There are several Corona cases at the first cross-country skiing World Cup after the Beijing Winter Olympics.

• The decline of the fifth wave that began last autumn, first carried by the Delta variant and then by its highly contagious successor Omicron, continues: 25,484 people infected with Covid-19 are currently hospitalized, which is 634 less than the day before.

• The American health authorities largely relaxed their recommendations on Friday on wearing a mask, which will no longer be recommended indoors for the majority of the country’s inhabitants, including in many schools.

• India‘s capital has announced the end of all the remaining coronavirus restrictions after government data showed cases of the recent Omicron variant had fallen.

• The Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro is celebrating an unusual carnival this year. Due to the pandemic, the city administration has cancelled the street carnival and postponed the famous parades in the Sambodrome until April. However, indoor events are allowed, with the argument that entry controls and checks of vaccination certificates are easier there.