In a tiny, rural church in a town of 427 residents in Cheonan city, south of Seoul, at least 241 people linked to the religious community tested positive for coronavirus, a city official told Reuters on Wednesday.
“We believe the scale of the outbreak is large …” the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said in a statement.
Vaccines give people ‘false sense of security’, WHO says
The World Health Organization has issued a warning in the lead-up to Christmas, saying social mixing is back at pre-pandemic levels and threatens to spread the virus in the run-up to the holidays.
“We are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“Vaccines save lives, but they do not fully prevent transmission.”
Last week, more than 60% of all reported cases and deaths from Covid-19 globally were in Europe, Tedros told a news conference.
WHO emergency director Mike Ryan added: “We are back to pre-pandemic levels of social mixing (in Europe)… even in the midst of very strong resurgence in cases and even in the midst of some of those countries under high pressure in health systems.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros)
We’re concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the #COVID19 pandemic. Vaccines save lives, but they do not fully prevent transmission. So please be careful and: Wear a mask. Keep distance. Avoid crowds. Open windows. Clean hands. pic.twitter.com/p2crxQvGuu
I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest Covid developments from across the world this Thursday.
Germany, who weathered earlier bouts of the pandemic better than many of its neighbours, has now found itself back at the centre of Europe’s virus outbreak as the latest wave of the pandemic infects people at a record pace.
Officials recorded 100,119 Covid deaths as of Wednesday, according to the latest data from the RKI public health institute.
The World Health Organization has also issued a warning in the lead-up to Christmas, saying social mixing was back at pre-pandemic levels.
“We are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“We are back to pre-pandemic levels of social mixing (in Europe)… even in the midst of very strong resurgence in cases and even in the midst of some of those countries under high pressure in health systems,” WHO emergency director Mike Ryan added.
Novavax is expected to be approved as a fourth Covid vaccine in UK. Trials show the protein-based jab causes fewer side-effects. The British government has so far ordered 60m doses.
Covid cases surge 23% in Americas, mostly in North America, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said.
US air travel is set to be busiest since pandemic began due to Thanksgiving.
Germany’s next chancellor seeks targeted vaccine mandate. German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz called on Wednesday for vaccinations to be made compulsory for targeted groups.
Italyunveiled new Covid measures banning the unvaccinated from numerous venues, extending compulsory vaccination and expanding booster shots to all adults.
Portugal’s health secretary pledged to give Covid booster shots to a quarter of the population by the end of January to tackle the “pandemic storm that has not yet passed”.
The World Health Organization director-general has declared that Europe is once again at the epicentre of the pandemic and warned that “no country or region is out of the woods”.
Countries should consider implementing mandatory Covid vaccination, the director of World Health Organization (WHO) Europe said today.
France is to announce new Covid measures as infections surge across the country.
