COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 17 December

1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 74.2 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 1.64 million.

South Korea has reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths, while fears of a lockdown have sparked panic buying.

Tokyo, Japan, has raised its alert level to the highest of four stages, warning about the strain on its medical system.

Health authorities in Spain are concerned following a recent uptick in cases following a succession of public holidays, with Christmas around the corner. “The situation is doubly preoccupying: we’re seeing (cases) increase, without having even reached Christmas, and without having fully registered the effects of the bank holidays,” health minister Salvador Illa told a press conference.

Twitter has said users will be required to remove new tweets that advance harmfully false or misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccines.

France has reported its biggest daily jump in cases since 21 November, with 17,615 new cases reported yesterday.

Denmark has announced a hard lockdown over Christmas and New Year to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

People in the Czech Republic are being offer free rapid-result COVID-19 tests, in an effort to slow the spread of cases and protect people visiting family members over the Christmas period.

2. President-elect Biden set to get vaccine

President-elect Joe Biden could receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as early as next week, according to transition team officials. Vice President Mike Pence is set to get the shot on Friday.

“I don’t want to get ahead of the line but I want to make sure that we demonstrate to the American people that it is safe to take,” Biden said at an event on Wednesday. The President-elect, 78, is in a high-risk category because of his age.

It comes as the vaccine programme is rolled out across the United States, but also as the virus continues to kill more than 3,000 people a day across the country.

2.9 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are being distributed across the country, first to distribution hubs, then on to local hospitals. Healthcare works are designated as first-in-line, while some are also going to residents and staff of long-term care facilities.