Daily roundupWednesday's key coronavirus developments from Luxembourg and abroad

Starting with Luxembourg

• The latest figures from Luxembourg show that 2,551 new coronavirus infections were discovered over the last 24 hours.

• One Covid patient’s treatment in the ICU cost nearly 57,000 euros.

• The single shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine caused some questions post-booster. The Health Directorate issued a clarification.

• Managing with the high level of teacher absences was an “acute challenge”, said the Minister for Education.

• Just before the MP debate this afternoon, the Ethics Council positions itself against the recommendation from the medical expert group.

• The recent demonstrations, during which protestors clashed with police officers on several occasions, were on the agenda of the Parliamentary Justice Commission on Wednesday morning. Minister of Justice Sam Tanson was also present and made several announcements.

• The issue will be decided in the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday afternoon. Experts advise a vaccine mandate for over 50s and healthcare workers. Will they agree?

• 22 homes are currently affected, Minister for Family Affairs Corinne Cahen writes in a Facebook post. Five residents who tested positive for Covid-19 have been admitted to hospital.

• Passenger numbers for Luxair dropped 68 percent in the first ten months of 2020, compared with the previous year.

• The Ministry of Education has announced changes to the Covid-19 measures at school, specifically for Cycle 1 of primary school, i.e., what used to be known as nursery school.

And Abroad

• European stock markets rose Wednesday but Wall Street continued its slide lower on concerns about interest rate hikes.

• French champagne sales rebounded last year to reach a record 5.5 billion euros ($6.2 billion) as demand soared despite the lingering impact of Covid restrictions that weighed on restaurants and bars, producers said Wednesday.

• A defiant Boris Johnson vowed Wednesday to remain British premier and contest the next election as calls for his resignation snowballed and a former Brexit minister demanded he quit ‘in the name of God’.

• The latest coronavirus variant will weigh on US economic growth in the months ahead but will not derail it, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assured the nation’s mayors Wednesday as they gathered in Washington.

• A Chinese couple who were trapped on a neverending date thanks to a virus lockdown have been relieved to find that love, not the coronavirus, is in the air and have agreed to tie the knot.

• USbiotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong on Wednesday opened a plant in Cape Town that will be the first in Africa to produce Covid-19 vaccines from start to finish.

• The Berlinale, Europe’s first major film festival of the year, will take place next month as an in-person event, organisers confirmed Wednesday, just as the Omicron wave is expected to peak in Germany.

• A misleading image of a South Korean lawmaker who serves as the leader of the ruling Democratic Party has been repeatedly shared in social media posts that claim he “skipped the nose swab” when receiving a PCR test. Read our Fact Check here.

• Their appeal came as a study backed by wealthy individuals and nonprofits found that a wealth tax on the world’s richest people could raise $2.52 trillion per year -- enough to pay for Covid vaccines for everyone and pull 2.3 billion people out of poverty.

• Qatar World Cup ticket sales were launched at reduced prices on Wednesday with residents and migrant workers able to attend games for just $11 as concerns persist over Covid-19.

• The Chinese megacity of Xi’an has partially resumed public transport, according to official announcements, after millions were confined to their homes for weeks because of a coronavirus outbreak.

• Japan’s government approved new coronavirus restrictions on a large part of the country, including Tokyo, on Wednesday as it battles record infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.

• Hong Kong’s government faced outrage Wednesday over its decision to cull thousands of small animals after hamsters in a pet store tested positive for Covid-19.

• The veteran Azarenka is a long-time member of the powerful WTA Players’ Council, which is working through the challenges posed by coronavirus.

• The World Health Organization has warned that the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, as France, Germany and Brazil posted new records of infections in the past 24 hours.

• France’s daily reported new coronavirus cases broke a new record on Tuesday with an average of over 300,000 a day in the past week, with the headline figure approaching half a million.

• Tourism arrivals around the world are not expected to return to their pre-pandemic levels until 2024 at the earliest, the World Tourism Organization said Tuesday.