The Australian city of Sydney is mandating that people wear face masks in indoor spaces starting Sunday. Violations of the new measure will be punishable by a fine starting Monday.
2:24 a.m. ET, December 24, 2020
Japan records new record high of Covid-19 cases as experts urge public to cancel holiday travel
From CNN’s Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo
A chef wearing a face mask looks out from a restaurant window on December 23, in Tokyo, Japan. Carl Court/Getty Images
Japan reported a record 3,268 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, according to the country s Health Ministry.
Wednesday s numbers top the previous record of Dec. 17, when authorities reported 3,208 cases.
Tokyo reported 748 new cases the capital s second-highest number of infections confirmed in a single day, according to the city s metropolitan government.
The Health Ministry also reported 56 additional coronavirus-related fatalities Wednesday, pushing the country s death toll to 3,063.
South Korea signs deals with Pfizer and Janssen to import Covid-19 vaccines
From CNN’s Jake Kwon in Seoul
Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are prepared to be administered to front-line health care workers at a vaccination site in Reno, Nevada on December 17. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
South Korea has signed contracts with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical company Janssen to import Covid-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in a briefing on Thursday.
According to the contract, South Korea will import doses for 6 million people from Janssen, 2 million more than announced in early December. Vaccination using Janssen s doses will begin in the second quarter of 2021, Chung added.
Fauci on new Covid-19 variant: Assume that it s here already
From CNN s Andrea Diaz
It s certainly possible that the new variant of coronavirus in the UK is already in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during an interview on ABC s Good Morning America on Tuesday. That s certainly possible I mean, when you have this amount of spread within a place like the UK, that you really need to assume that it s here already, and certainly is not the dominant strain, but I would not be surprised at all if it is already here, said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.