Sydney Lockdown Extended; Pope Makes Vaccine Plea: Virus Update

U.S. cases rose on Christmas Day by the smallest amount in almost two months, though the numbers were likely skewed by the holiday. Australian authorities extended a lockdown for Sydney’s Northern Beaches as a cluster of Covid cases grows. Pope Francis used his Christmas Day message to appeal for world leaders to share vaccines.

Hospitalizations in New York City continued to rise and the rate of positive tests showed no sign of slowing. In Boston, a doctor reportedly suffered a severe allergic reaction after taking Moderna’s vaccine.

President Donald Trump was expected to sign an order Friday forcing anyone flying from the U.K. to the U.S. to have a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of boarding. France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Japan joined a growing number of countries that have identified their first cases of the coronavirus mutation, although there’s no clear evidence it results in more severe cases of the disease.

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The U.S. recorded 106,188 new Covid-19 cases on Dec. 25, an increase of just 0.6% from the day before and the smallest daily gain since Nov. 4, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Johns Hopkins University. However, the numbers were likely skewed by the Christmas holiday: The last time the daily rise was below 1% was on Thanksgiving, and was preceded and followed by significantly larger jumps.

Thailand reported 110 new cases Saturday, most connected to a recent outbreak in Samut Sakhon province, the country’s seafood hub. Of the new 110 cases, 64 were transmitted locally, 30 were found among migrant workers and 16 were detected in state quarantine, according to the country’s Covid-19 center.

Thailand’s recent wave started with a record 576 new cases Dec. 20, mostly among workers at seafood markets, people who visited the markets or their close contacts. Seeking to limit the spread during the New Year’s holiday, the government on Thursday divided the country into zones based on risk and banned public gatherings in areas at the highest risk level.

An electronic platform for Hong Kong residents to book their Covid-19 vaccinations will be ready by next month, which will help create a centralized record of their vaccine history, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Alfred Sit told reporters Saturday.

The platform will allow residents to book the first and second doses of the vaccine together, and the vaccination records will be stored on the Hospital Authority and Department of Health system, Sit said.

Separately, Hong Kong will prioritize vaccinations for the elderly and key personnel, including cross-border truck drivers, and medical and care workers, local media cited a senior government official as saying.

China reported a total of 39 new Covid cases Friday, including 20 patients with symptoms and 19 without, according to the National Health Commission. Twelve of the cases with symptoms and 17 of the asymptomatic cases were imported, the commission said.

Australian authorities extended a lockdown for Sydney’s Northern Beaches until at least Dec. 30 as a cluster of Covid-19 infections grows.

Some 250,000 people in the area should remain at home except for essential medical care and provisions, but will be able to gather outside for exercise with five or 10 people depending on whether they’re in the worst-affected areas, the New South Wales state government said Saturday. Nine new cases were recorded overnight — with eight linked to the outbreak — taking the cluster’s total size to 116.

State Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters that health officials remain concerned that the virus cold have spread into the central business district before Christmas, and urged Sydneysiders to limit their activities in coming days and avoid Boxing Day shopping sales.

The Chinese economy is set to overtake the U.S. faster than previously anticipated after weathering the coronavirus pandemic better than the West, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research. The world’s biggest and second-biggest economies are on course to trade places in dollar terms in 2028, five years earlier than expected a year ago, the center said Saturday.

China was the first economy to suffer a pandemic blow, but has recovered swiftly, according to government data. That should prompt Western economies to pay much more attention to what is happening in Asia, according to the report.

French health authorities identified the first case of a person infected with the Covid-19 variant circulating in southeast England that prompted France to restrict travel between the two countries.

The variant was found Friday in a French national in Tours, southwest of Paris. The man, who lives in England, traveled from London on Dec. 19, the French Health Ministry said in a statement. The man is self-isolating at home, and authorities are contact tracing.

France reported 20,262 new confirmed coronavirus cases Friday, the second-highest daily increase during the last five weeks. Deaths rose by 159 to 62,427, according to French health authorities.

Brazil has a total of 7.5 million cases of Covid-19, with 22,967 confirmed in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said. Numbers from Ceara state weren’t included.

The nation’s health regulator canceled its year-end recess and scrapped January holidays for employees to ensure all vaccine registration requests get processed as quickly as possible, Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported.

New Jersey reported more than 5,000 new cases, the highest daily increase in five days but lower than early December, when daily cases surpassed 6,000.

The statewide transmission rate stayed below 1, meaning each person who tested positive is spreading to less than one other person, a positive sign in containing the spread.

A Boston physician with a severe shellfish allergy said his immune system went into revolt minutes after receiving one of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines, the NYT reported.

The case was the first of its kind linked to Moderna’s shot. Federal agencies are investigating at least six cases involving people who suffered anaphylaxis after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which contains similar ingredients, according to the report.

California added 39,144 new Covid-19 cases Thursday for a total of 2.04 million infections, while deaths rose by 312 to 23,947, according to data Friday on the health department’s website. Test positivity rates continued to hover at 12.4%. The number of intensive-care unit beds available for the state’s 40 million residents fell to 1,302.

A church in San Jose held an indoor Christmas Eve service, defying local public health and court orders, NBC Bay Area reported. Calvary Chapel San Jose has accumulated fines of more than $1 million for violating Covid-19 rules by holding weekly indoor services for hundreds of people, NBC said. Church leaders say their faith protects them and questioned the constitutionality of local health orders.

As of Dec. 23, there were 2,387 people in New York City hospitals, about twice as many as at the start of the month. Hospitals admitted 208 people Dec. 23 for Covid-like illness, with nearly two-thirds testing positive. The city’s rate of positive tests reached a seven-day average of 6.69%, from less than 2% in early November, according to city data.

In the week ended Dec. 24, the city confirmed 23,127 cases and 199 deaths from Covid-19. Its weekly average of the previous four weeks was 22,648 cases and 159 fatalities. More than half of the 1,148 patients in New York state ICUs were intubated as of Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. The statewide positivity rate is 5.49%.

Italy reported 19,037 new coronavirus cases, an increase from 18,040 the day before. On Thursday the country began what will be the first of two strict lockdown periods as the government tries to curb contact between citizens over the holidays.

Shops and restaurants had operated with fewer restrictions in the run-up to Christmas week, but Rome has insisted that Italians limit their contacts and movement, and avoid traditional parties and large family gatherings both at Christmas and New Year’s.

The U.K. reported 570 fatalities, taking the nation’s tally from the virus to more than 70,000 — worst in Europe after Italy. There were another 32,725 cases, the sixth consecutive day that daily new infections exceeded 30,000.

Irish authorities confirmed the new variant of the coronavirus has been found in the country.

“It is particularly important” that travelers arriving from the U.K. quarantine for…