Evening roundupThursday's key coronavirus developments in Luxembourg and abroad

Starting with Luxembourg

• The latest figures from the Ministry of Health show that 161 new cases of coronavirus were discovered yesterday. Four further deaths from COVID-19 were also reported, bringing the total death toll in the Grand Duchy to 521.

• Minister of Health Paulette Lenert gave a weekly update on Covid in Luxembourg, as well as answering queries regarding vaccine figures.

• Schools are to continue under the same model as prior to the Christmas Break, Minister of Education Claude Meisch said in the Chamber’s education commission on Wednesday.

• It was a day of press briefings, with Minister of Sport Dan Kersch addressing the press on sports guidelines from 11 January.

• Minister of Culture Sam Tanson advised on measures for the culture sector when it reopens on Monday.

• Luxembourg’s Consultative Commission on Human Rights has issued a report expressing surprise over the administration’s decision to ease certain restrictions only ten days into the lockdown.

• Tom Wirion, chief executive from Chamber of Trades, told RTL it was vital to strike a balance between health and the economy.

• To support hospitality establishments get through another extended closure, the government has released new compensation measures based on business expenses between November 2020 and March 2021.

• A new campaign called Lights on Luxembourg has been organised in response to continuing Covid-19 restrictions on the Horesca sector.

• The National Institute of Statistical and Economic Studies (Statec) has released its latest report, showing that the month of November saw far more deaths in 2020 than in 2019.

And around the world

• Roughly one in a hundred thousand people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine have had severe allergic reactions, US health officials said Wednesday while stressing that the benefits of immunization greatly outweigh the known risks.

• China reported 63 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday -- the highest single-day tally since July -- as authorities try to stamp out an outbreak of the virus in a city of 11 million near Beijing.

• Hospital chiefs in England were scrambling for hospital beds on Thursday as the surge in coronavirus cases risked overwhelming the system, healthcare providers and medics said.

• Japan’s government declared a month-long coronavirus state of emergency in the greater Tokyo area on Thursday as the capital reported another record surge in daily infections.

• Countries in Asia were stepping up their fight against the coronavirus again on Thursday in a fresh effort to suppress an illness they had previously tamed, joining Europe in imposing new curbs.