Michigan surpasses 11,000 deaths from COVID-19, eight days after surpassing 10,000. (WDIV-TV)
New South Wales reports the first locally-transmitted case in two weeks, after a 45-year-old Sydney man who drives international flight crews to and from the Sydney Airport tested positive for COVID-19. (ABC Australia)
Rep. Joe Wilson tests positive for COVID-19 and is expected to self-isolate throughout the holidays. (CNN)
Six men are indicted by a federal grand jury in the failed plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. (Detroit Free Press)
Tennessee reports 11,410 cases, a new single-day record. (WMC-TV)
The cryptocurrency bitcoin hits an all-time high of US$20,440 after jumping more than 4.5% amid high demand from large investors. (BBC News)
The Netherlands reports a record 11,214 new cases in the past 24 hours. (NL Times)
The number of confirmed cases in South Korea reaches a record 1,078 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 45,442 cases. (Al Jazeera)
Tokyo reports a new single-day record of 678 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the prefecture to 48,668. (The Japan Times)
Turkey reports a record 240 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 17,121. (Reuters)
Twitter says that it will ban false and misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccines on its platform. (Reuters)
2020–21 South Pacific cyclone season Cyclone Yasa makes landfall in Bua Province, Fiji, at around 6:00 a.m. UTC (6:00 p.m. FJT), two hours ahead of its forecasted schedule. (FBC News)
Alberta reports a record 30 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the provincial death toll to 790. (Calgary Herald)
Canada reports over 7,002 cases, a new-single day record. (Global News)
Cyclone Yasa makes landfall in Bua Province, Fiji, at around 6:00 a.m. UTC (6:00 p.m. FJT), two hours ahead of its forecasted schedule. (FBC News)
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan issues a gubernatorial instruction and decree that requires anyone leaving and entering the city from tomorrow until January 8 to have a negative rapid antigen test result. The order also limits the capacity of offices to 50% and requires cafés, restaurants and tourist attractions to close at 7:00 p.m. local time from December 24 to 27 and December 31 to January 2. (The Jakarta Post) (Jakarta Globe)
Mayor Hennadiy Kernes of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, dies in Germany due to complications caused by COVID-19 after contracting the virus in September. (Kyiv Post)
Ontario reports 2,432 cases, a new-single day record. (The Globe and Mail)
South Korea reports a record 22 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 634. (Yonhap News Agency)
The Chilean Chamber of Deputies approves a bill to allow euthanasia. (La Tercera)
The Netherlands reports a new single-day record of 12,844 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 652,525. (NL Times)
The Robert Koch Institute reports a revised total of more than 30,000 cases in the past 24 hours, a new record, because around 3,500 cases in Baden-Württemberg were not initially reported. (The Local Germany)
Turkey reports a record 243 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 17,364. (Daily Sabah)
An explosion at a religious gathering during a Quran recitation ceremony in Ghazni, Afghanistan, has killed at least 15 civilians and wounded 20 others. (Al Jazeera)
An explosion kills 15 children and injures another 20 people in Ghazni, Afghanistan, after a piece of unexploded ordnance blows up when the children try to sell it to a vendor. (BBC News)
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announces that the country will impose a third nationwide lockdown beginning on December 26. However, people who take part in mass testing programmes between January 15 and 17 and test negative will be allowed to enter shops and restaurants beginning on January 18. (Barron's)
Germany reports a record 33,777 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,439,938. (Bild)
Mexico City and the State of Mexico move back to the "red traffic light". All non-essential activity will be suspended until January 10 due to an "alarming" increase in both infections and hospital occupancies. (Milenio)
Minnesota Senator Jerry Relph dies from COVID-19 complications. (AP)
South Africa surpasses 900,000 total cases of COVID-19. (TimesLive)
Starting from December 21, Panama will reimpose nationwide restrictions by require men and women to carry out holiday shopping on different days. On Christmas and New Year's Day there will be total lockdown for all genders. (The Straits Times)
The British Antarctic Survey confirms that Iceberg A-68, one of the largest ever recorded icebergs with a surface area of 5,800 square kilometres, has broken in two in the South Atlantic as it approaches South Georgia island. The new smaller iceberg has been named A68D. (The Guardian)
The Philippines reports 2,122 new cases, the highest daily total in more than a month, bringing the nationwide total to 456,562 cases. (ABS-CBN News)
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Malaysia surpasses 90,000. (The Malaysian Insight)
A fire inside an intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients at a private hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey, kills nine people. (Reuters)
Bali requires anyone entering and leaving the province to have a negative PCR swab test for air travel, and a negative rapid antigen test for land and sea travel. However, children aged 12 years and under are exempted from these requirements. (The Bali Times)
Colombia reports a record 13,990 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 1,496,062. (Xinhua)
COVID-19 vaccination in Switzerland Swissmedic approves the authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in Switzerland. (Swissmedic)
Gaziantep hospital fire A fire inside an intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients at a private hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey, kills nine people. (Reuters)
Jakarta reports a record of 1,899 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours. (VOI)
Portugal surpasses 6,000 total deaths of COVID-19. (Euro Weekly News)
Swissmedic approves the authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in Switzerland. (Swissmedic)
The total number of cases in Africa exceeds 2.5 million. (Reuters)
The United Kingdom surpasses two million cases of COVID-19. (The Evening Standard)
Turkey surpasses two million cases of COVID-19. (The Azeri Times)
Amazon announces that they will close the Robbinsville Township facility, also known as the PNE5, after several workers tested positive for COVID-19. (CNBC)
Belgium bans entry for incoming rail and air passengers from the United Kingdom for at least 24 hours, beginning at midnight. Virologist Marc Van Ranst said yesterday that a variant of SARS-COV-2 from the United Kingdom had been found in four cases from a sample of 2,000 analyses in his laboratory. (VRT)
Denmark will exhume four millions of minks to prevention pollution contamination. This work will begin in May 2021, when the risk of coronavirus contamination from the dead animals has been eliminated. (DW)
El Salvador bans travelers who have been in the United Kingdom or South Africa in the last 30 days or whose flights included a layover in those countries. (Reuters)
Greece introduces a seven-day quarantine for people arriving from the United Kingdom beginning tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. local time due to the discovery of a new variant of SARS-COV-2 in the country. (Greek Travel Pages)
Iran suspends flights to and from the United Kingdom for two weeks due to the emergence of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 that was discovered in the UK. (Reuters)
Israel bans entry of travelers from Denmark, South Africa, and the United Kingdom due to the discovery of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the latter country. Israeli citizens arriving from those countries will be required to quarantine at state-run quarantine hotels for up to 14 days. (The Jerusalem Post)
Nunavut reports its first two deaths from COVID-19 complications. (Toronto Star)
Over 8,000 ducks are expected to be culled after a third case of H5N8 avian influenza was confirmed at a farm in Norfolk, UK. (Eastern Daily Press)
Saudi Arabia suspends all international passenger flights for one week as well as all entry through land and sea ports in response to a new variant of the SARS-COV-2 that was discovered in the United Kingdom. (Arab News)
South Korea reports a record 1,097 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 49,665 cases. (CNA)
The National Hockey League announces its truncated 2020–21 season will begin on January 13 and run for 56 games per team, ending on May 8. (WEYI-TV)
Turkey temporarily suspend flights from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, and South Africa due to concerns over a new variant of SARS-CoV-2. (Daily Sabah)
Belarus is expected to begin production of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine during the first quarter of 2021 after it became the first foreign country to register the vaccine. (Meduza)
Colombia announces that it will receive 1.7 million doses of the Tozinameran vaccine. (Reuters)
Delta Air Lines announces that it would require passengers travelling from New York to the United Kingdom to get a COVID-19 test prior to departure. (U.S. News and World Report)
Egypt reports 664 new cases in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day total in a months, bringing the nationwide total to 125,555 cases. (Egypt Independent)
Essex lorry deaths Two men are found guilty at London's Old Bailey of the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese people whom they were smuggling into the UK. The 39 people suffocated in a lorry during the journey across the North Sea, from Zeebrugge to Purfleet, in October 2019. (BBC News)
Governor Andrew Cuomo announces that British Airways will require passengers to test negative for COVID-19 before arriving at the John F. Kennedy International Airport due to the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 in the United Kingdom. (WNBC-TV)
Governor Jay Inslee imposes a 14-day quarantine for travelers from South Africa and the United Kingdom in an effort to prevent the spread of a mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in those countries. (The Seattle Times)
Great conjunction The planets Jupiter and Saturn appear at their closest in the sky since 1623, in an event known as a great conjunction. The closest approach will occur at 18:22 UTC, when the two planets will be one-tenth of a degree apart; they will appear to be a binary object to the naked eye. (Euronews)
Illinois reports 4,699 cases in the last 24 hours, the first time that the state has reported less than 6,000 cases and the lowest daily total since October 27. (WBBM-TV)
India reports 19,556 cases of COVID-19, the lowest in the country since July 3. (Reuters)
Jordan suspends all flights to and from the United Kingdom until January 3 due to the new variant of SARS-CoV-2. (The Jerusalem Post)
New South Wales detects two cases of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in travellers returning from the United Kingdom. (The Australian)
Pakistan Senator Kalsoom Perveen dies from COVID-19. (The Express Tribune)
Premier Doug Ford announces a province-wide lockdown across Ontario from December 26 until January 9 in Northern Ontario and January 23 in Southern Ontario in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the province. (CBC)
Russia announces the suspension of all flights to and from the United Kingdom for one week beginning at midnight due to the new variant of SARS-CoV-2. (The Moscow Times)
Singapore receives the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, becoming the first country in Asia to do so. (CNET)
South Korea reports a record 24 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 698. In addition, the country surpasses 50,000 cases of COVID-19. (Yonhap News Agency)
