Coronavirus: Latest global developments

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

– Beijing cancels flights, weddings –

Beijing’s airports cancel hundreds of flights and residents are told to postpone weddings and keep funeral ceremonies short, as disease controls across China are tightened to tackle virus clusters just months before the Winter Olympics kick off in the capital.

– UK ‘red list’ emptied –

The UK government is to remove all remaining countries from its travel “red list” on November 1, scrapping bans on foreigners travelling to England.

– Vote and jab –

South Africa says it will set up 1,000 vaccination sites at selected polling stations during next week’s local government elections to offer voters a chance to get a shot after casting ballots.

– Ugandan schools to reopen –

Ugandan schools, closed since March last year owing to the pandemic, will reopen in January regardless of currently low vaccination uptake,  President Yoweri Museveni says.

– French economy powers ahead –

The French economy, Europe’s second-biggest, expands strongly, by three percent, in the third quarter, powered by a sharp increase in household spending and the reopening of key sectors from coronavirus lockdowns.

– Approaching five million dead –

The coronavirus has killed at least 4,979,103 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources on Friday. 

The US has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 743,362, followed by Brazil with 607,068, India with 457,191, Mexico with 287,631 and Russia 236,220.

The countries with the most new deaths were United States with 2,158, followed by Russia with 1,163 and India 805. 

Taking into account excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, the World Health Organization  estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.