What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 17 December

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 17 December: Top stories: President-elect Biden set to get vaccine next week; South Korea reports record death toll; Denmark announces hard lockdown for Christmas period.

As of week 2020-50, 15 130 100 cases have been reported in the EU/EEA and the UK: Portugal (348 744). As of week 2020-50, 375 930 deaths have been reported in the EU/EEA and the UK: Portugal (5 559)

 

British American Tobacco wins approval to test Covid vaccine on humans

British American Tobacco wins approval to test Covid vaccine on humans: British American Tobacco has moved a step closer to producing a vaccine for coronavirus using tobacco plants, as it won approval in the US to begin testing on humans. 

The company behind cigarette brands including Lucky Strike, Rothmans and Benson & Hedges said the US Food & Drug Administration had given it clearance to begin a clinical study with adult volunteers.

While large pharmaceutical companies are already producing vaccines, BAT believes its own can be produced in six weeks, compared with the several months it takes using conventional methods.

"Com o nosso apoio foi possível desenvolver um candidato a vacina covid-19. Está em ensaios clínicos": Primeira entrevista do novo CEO da Philip Morris Internacional, Jacek Olczak, que acaba de ser nomeado e que tomará posse em maio de 2021. Quer um mundo sem fumo, defende o tabaco aquecido e diz que o clima agradece. Consigo trabalham mais de 400 cientistas em inovação e saúde, incluindo em vacinas.

 

Macron: Positive test prompts European leaders to self-isolate

Emmanuel Macron: Positive test prompts European leaders to self-isolate

President Macron is just the latest world leader to test positive for coronavirus:

• Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) died on Monday, four weeks after he tested positive
• US President Donald Trump contracted the virus in October. He was given an experimental drugs cocktail and returned to the White House after three nights in hospital
• Polish President Andrzej Duda contracted the virus in October and went into self-isolation
• Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has spent two months in hospital in Germany after catching the disease in October - last week he appeared in video for the first time since testing positive, saying he hopes to return to Algeria soon
• Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei tested positive in September - despite calling himself "high-risk" he did not appear to suffer a severe case
• Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil tested positive in July and spent more than two weeks quarantining in his residence
• In June, the outgoing President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, died of an illness suspected by many to be Covid-19
• Russia's Prime Minster Mikhail Mishustin contracted the virus in April and was admitted to hospital with moderate to severe symptoms
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested positive in March - he spent three nights in intensive care in a London hospital, later saying he owed the health workers there his life

Ontario counts suicide victims as COVID-19 fatalities

Ontario counts suicide victims as COVID-19 fatalities: If someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 commits suicide, the Ontario Ministry of Health will record their cause of death as COVID-19.

As of Sunday, December 13, Public Health Ontario counted 140,181 cumulative cases of COVID-19, and 3,949 deaths.

“As a result of how data is recorded by health units into public health information databases, the ministry is not able to accurately separate how many people died directly because of COVID versus those who died with a COVID infection,” Ontario Ministry of Health Senior Communications Advisor Anna Miller said to True North in an email.