
Brazil reported 53,453 additional confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest daily rate since mid-August, and 836 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, in Argentina has topped 40,000, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Brazil has signed a letter of intent with Pfizer Inc for the delivery of more than 70 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, its health minister said on Tuesday, the day the country’s death toll from the virus surged to its highest in almost a month

Brazil has recorded its first possible case of Candida Auris, a rare fungus that can cause drug-resistant infections and potential fatalities, the country's health ministry said on Tuesday.

Royal Caribbean cruise ship Quantum of the Seas has turned back on day three of a four-day cruise to nowhere due to a suspected Covid-19 case on board. The ship’s captain made an announcement over the public announcement system at about 2.45am on Wednesday, informing guests to remain in their rooms and adding that the ship would arrive in Singapore by about 8am.

India has bought 1.6 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines, which is more than any other country, according to a global analysis. Using its massive manufacturing clout, the country purchased 500 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, one billion from the American company Novavax and 100 million doses of the Sputnik V candidate from Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute, said the USA-based Duke University Global Health Innovation Centre.

Ms Margaret Keenan, the 90-year-old grandmother who became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine outside of a trial in Britain on Tuesday, has a message for others: “Go for it” to beat the devastating disease.

One person has died and more than 400 have been hospitalised in southern India due to an unidentified infection that caused many to fall unconscious following seizures and nausea, a senior health department official said on Monday.

Two more positive Covid-19 test results have been confirmed, it was announced at the Falkland Islands Government’s press conference, held last Wednesday afternoon. The total number of positive test results since April 3, 2020 is now 17.

An intermediate magnitude 6.0 earthquake was reported around Sunday noon near Iquique, Provincia de Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile. According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), the quake hit on Sunday 6 December 2020 at 1.47 pm local time at an intermediate depth of 114 km.