Daily roundupSaturday's key coronavirus developments in Luxembourg and abroad

Starting with Luxembourg

• The latest figures from the Ministry of Health show that 159 new cases of coronavirus were discovered yesterday from 9,075 tests. Two new deaths were reported.

• [block type="summary”]The leader of the Christian Social People Party’s (CSV) parliamentary group, Martine Hansen, and Deputy Prime Minister Dan Kersch from the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) were guests on RTL Radio on Saturday afternoon, to discuss Luxembourg’s strategy in the fight against Covid-19.

  And abroad

  • The European Union on Friday backtracked on a threat to restrict exports of coronavirus shots to Northern Ireland in its growing row with Britain, as the WHO warned against “vaccine nationalism”.
  • A team of WHO experts investigating the origins of the coronavirus toured a propaganda exhibition celebrating China’s recovery from the pandemic in Wuhan on Saturday, after a meeting at the hospital that treated the first confirmed Covid-19 cases over a year ago.
  • French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine appeared not to be effective for people over 65 years of age.
  • AstraZeneca has also been hit by Covid jab delays and disagreements, with questions about its effectiveness, and potential litigation because of delays in delivery to the European Union.
  • French Prime Minister Jean Castex on Friday said the country would close its borders to non-European Union countries for all except essential travel, while stepping back from a widely anticipated third lockdown.
  • The US Covid outbreak is easing, with new cases and hospitalizations down two weeks in a row, even though the overall numbers still remain far higher than prior to the fall-winter surge.
  • Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday he was hopeful that he was through the worst of his coronavirus infection as he reappeared in a video message to the nation.