Evening roundupThursday's key coronavirus developments in Luxembourg and abroad

Starting with Luxembourg:

• The latest figures from the Ministry of Health showed 9 deaths and 480 new cases from 8,336 tests. There was a slight increase in hospitalisations, too. Meanwhile, a bug in the system had caused incorrect figures to be released on Tuesday. As a result, no daily cases were published on Wednesday, for the first time since daily reporting began.

• City Concorde has closed off 200 parking spaces to reduce crowds as the government tackles shopping and leisure trips. But not all the rules make sense, says the manager of the mall.

• The Center hospitalier du Nord has decided to close part of its operating theatres in order to reorganise services and target the fight against the pandemic. Non-urgent operations are postponed until further notice.

• The hospitality sectorexpressed concern and frustration regarding the government’s announcement that the current restrictions would remain in place until 15 January.

• This week, a number of humanitarian organisations will be carrying out screening tests for people in precarious situations at eight different locations across the country.

• 5,000 antigenic rapid tests are to be made available per day in the Grand Duchy.

• On Wednesday, MPs in the Chamber voted in favour of increasing minimum wage by 2.8%, as well as increasing social inclusion income (REVIS) as of 1 January.

• The Minister for Housing and of Internal Security Henri Kox spent six days in self-quarantine after a staff member close to him had tested positive, but he now has tested negative.

• Zara is to close its store in Luxembourg City following a rent disagreement with the real estate agency, but Covid-19 may have played a significant role, too.

And around the world:

• The full results of a clinical trial for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday. An editorial related to the scientific paper said: “The trial results are impressive enough to hold up in any conceivable analysis. This is a triumph.”

• Meanwhile, if the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decides to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine, it will probably ask people with a known history of severe allergic reactions to not take it, a top government scientist said Wednesday.

• German travel giant TUI on Thursday posted an annual loss of more than three billion euros as the pandemic devastated tourism, but the group said it was optimistic vaccines would boost travel demand in 2021.

• America‘s billionaires have seen their wealth rise by more than $1 trillion since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study Wednesday, fueling a debate about higher taxes on the rich.

• More than 45,000 people died of Covid-19 in Spain between March and May, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said Thursday, giving a figure that exceeds the official toll by 18,000. Figures released by the health ministry on June 1 put the total number of deaths from Covid-19 at 27,127 but the INE figure suggests an extra 18,557 people died.

• The Czech government extended a state of emergency until December 23 on Thursday as the number of Covid-19 infections in the EU member started to surge again. But they’re not the only ones: Germany‘s trend of new infections has taken a worrying turn as the death toll to date crossed the grim milestone of 20,000. Ukraine will shutter schools and non-essential business like cinemas for two weeks following Orthodox Christmas next month, and in Denmark bars, restaurants and cultural venues as well as secondary schools are closed for the remaining of the year.