LONDON — The World Health Organization’s Europe director says there is a “small signal” the latest resurgence of coronavirus cases in the region is slowing.

There were 1.8 million coronavirus cases last week, a slight dip from more than 2 million cases the previous week.

Dr. Hans Kluge says, “we should all see light at the end of the tunnel, but it will be six tough months.”

Kluge says people could avoid stricter outbreak control measures if they were more willing to adhere to recommended measures.

“If mask wearing reached 95%, lockdowns would not be needed,” he said. “But with the current 60% or lower mask use, it is hard to avoid lockdowns.”

Kluge warned countries that release lockdowns too quickly without other measures in place could lead the coronavirus to rebound. He called for a tiered system that would spell out clear measures depending on transmission in the community.

In Germany

Germany’s disease control agency says the coronavirus situation in the country remains serious but there are signs that lockdown measures are slowing the spread of the virus.

The Robert Koch Institute reported 22,609 new confirmed cases of covid-19 in the past day, and 251 additional deaths.

Ute Rexroth, a senior official involved in the institute’s pandemic response, said the so-called reproduction number reflecting how many people are infected by every positive case has declined.

Germany introduced tighter restrictions at the beginning of November, shutting restaurants, bars and gyms but leaving open stores and schools.

The head of the RKI, Lothar Wieler, said the situation in Germany is still “very, very serious” and there’s a risk that hospitals may be overwhelmed by the continued high number of cases.

In Denmark

Denmark is lifting the local restrictions in the northern part of the country where authorities found mink farms with infected animals, including some with a mutation in the virus that put seven municipalities in a lockdown.

Danish broadcaster DR said restaurants and cafes will reopen Friday and people in the region which has numerous mink farms, will be able to move freely across municipal borders — something that only health officials, emergency services and alike were allowed to do.

AP Dr. Hans Kluge, regional director for WHO Europe, gestures Oct. 15 during a virtual news conference at its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.  

Meanwhile, the Danish prime minister’s traditional presentation of a new government to Queen Margrethe won’t happen because a member of Mette Frederiksen’s family has tested positive for covid-19.

Frederiksen, who heads a Social Democratic minority government, said that “out of an extra precautionary measure (she) will not meet the Queen,” neither will the outgoing agriculture minister Mogens Jensen “who was with the prime minister yesterday.”

Instead, Frederiksen was expected to do it over the phone.

In Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan police say they will start arresting people pretending to be beggars in the capital and its suburbs in a bid to contain the surging of covid-19 cases.

Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said they have “observed a tendency of spreading covid-19” because of begging at traffic lights and intersections in Colombo and its suburbs.

Rohana said intelligence units have found that the vast majority are “fake beggars conducting fraudulent activities” and a special operation will be conducted from Thursday to arrest.

In China

Chinese President Xi Jinping is calling for closer international cooperation on making a vaccine for the coronavirus available.

Xi spoke Thursday in an address delivered via video at an event at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Xi said: “To beat the virus and promote the global recovery, the international community must close ranks and jointly respond to the crisis and meet the tests.”

AP Monitors show Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering speech Thursday via virtual meeting, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  

He said cooperation would include closer coordination on policies for development and distribution of a vaccine.

Chinese companies Sinovac and Sinopharm are in the late stages of testing vaccines, putting them among nearly a dozen companies at or near that level of development. That has introduced both commercial and political competition among countries and companies to be the first to offer a solution to the pandemic.

In England

A key researcher at the University of Oxford says scientists expect to report results from the late-stage trials of their covid-19 vaccine by Christmas.

Dr. Andrew Pollard, an expert in pediatric infection and immunity at Oxford, said Thursday that research was slowed by low infection rates over the summer but the Phase III trials are now accumulating the data needed to report results.

He told the BBC, “I think we’re getting close, and it’s definitely going to be before Christmas based on the progress.”

Pollard discussed progress in the late-stage trials as Oxford released a study based on earlier research that found the vaccine was well tolerated and produced a strong immune response in people over age 70. Pollard said this is important because vaccines often don’t work as well in older people.

In Russia

Russia’s total number of confirmed coronavirus infections rose above 2 million and the country recorded its highest one-day death toll, the national coronavirus taskforce reported Thursday.

It says there were 23,610 new cases reported in the past day, bringing the total for the pandemic to 2,015,608. The taskforce says 463 people died, pushing the cumulative death toll to 34,850.

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