Coronavirus live news: Giuliani tests positive for Covid; California braces for lockdown | World news

Right here is the total story on Biden’s decide for Well being and Human Providers secretary:

President-elect Joe Biden has picked California Lawyer Normal Xavier Becerra to be his well being secretary, placing a defender of the Inexpensive Care Act in a number one function to supervise his administration’s coronavirus response, AP stories.

If confirmed by the Senate, Becerra, 62, would be the first Latino to go the Division of Well being and Human Providers, a $1-trillion-plus company with 80,000 workers and a portfolio that features medication and vaccines, modern medical analysis and medical health insurance packages protecting greater than 130 million People.

As California’s lawyer normal, Becerra has led the coalition of Democratic states defending “Obamacare” from the Trump administration’s newest effort to overturn it, a authorized case awaiting a Supreme Court docket choice subsequent yr.

A former senior Home Democrat, Becerra performed a task in steering the Obama well being regulation by way of Congress in 2009 and 2010. On the time he would inform reporters that one of many main motivations for him was having tens of 1000’s of uninsured individuals in his Southern California district.

Overseeing the coronavirus response would be the most intricate job Becerra has ever contemplated. By subsequent yr, the US shall be engaged in a mass vaccination marketing campaign, the groundwork for which has been laid below the Trump administration.

Crowded scenes on the primary weekend of Christmas procuring after the easing of lockdown in England have prompted fears a few lack of social distancing and the danger of spreading coronavirus.

Regardless of total footfall being down on the identical interval final yr, photographs emerged on Sunday of busy excessive streets with consumers standing shut collectively, and a Christmas market in Nottingham needed to be shut for good inside 24 hours of opening. As well as 4 individuals have been arrested as a crowd tried enter Harrods within the West Finish in London:

A number of information shops are reporting that Rudy Giuliani, private lawyer to Donald Trump, has been admitted to hospital following the announcement by Trump on Twitter that Giuliani had examined optimistic for coronavirus.

CNN, the New York Instances and the ABC, citing unnamed sources accustomed to the state of affairs, report that Giuliani has been admitted to Georgetown College Hospital. The Guardian has not been capable of confirm this independently.

Hey and welcome to at the moment’s stay coronavirus information with me, Helen Sullivan.

I’ll be bringing you the most recent updates for the following few hours. As at all times, you may get in contact with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has been admitted Georgetown College Hospital with coronavirus, in response to CNN, which cited a supply accustomed to the state of affairs – although the Guardian has not been capable of verify this. Late on Sunday, Trump tweeted that Giuliani had the virus, although it’s unclear what his situation is.

In the meantime greater than 23 million individuals in Southern California have been getting ready on Sunday for the harshest lockdowns in the US as Covid-19 instances spiked to document ranges within the nation’s most populous state.

The restrictions in California, ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom to take impact on a region-by-region foundation as hospital intensive care unit beds are crammed virtually to capability, name for bars, hair and nail salons and tattoo retailers to shut once more.

As of 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, the affected areas have been additionally required to close down even outside restaurant eating.

Listed below are the opposite key developments from the previous couple of hours:

• Tunisia has prolonged a night-time curfew till the top of the yr in a bid to sort out rising coronavirus instances, amid rising discontent and anti-government protests within the North African nation.
• France has recorded 11,022 new coronavirus infections and 174 deaths during the last 24 hours. The figures evaluate to 9,784 instances and 198 fatalities introduced final Sunday.
• Pfizer Inc has utilized for emergency use authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine in India, a prime authorities well being adviser has stated, the primary firm to take action within the nation with the world’s second-highest variety of infections.
• Turkey recorded 30,402 new coronavirus instances over the previous 24 hours, the well being ministry has introduced. The Covid-19 dying toll rose by 195 within the final 24 hours, bringing the full variety of fatalities to 14,900, the ministry information additionally confirmed.
• The South African authorities has urged college college students who attended a collection of end-of-year “Rage” events to quarantine for 10 days after figuring out 4 such events as coronavirus “super-spreader occasions”.
• There have been an extra 17,272 lab-confirmed coronavirus instances within the UK, in response to government data. This compares to 12,155 instances registered final Sunday.
• Italy has reported 18,887 new coronavirus instances, in contrast with 20,646 final Sunday. A complete of 1.728 million instances have been registered thus far.
• Indonesia has obtained its first cargo of vaccine from China, its president, Joko Widodo, has stated, as the federal government prepares a mass inoculation programme.
• Bavaria, which has thus far recorded the Germany’s highest dying toll, has introduced it would impose a more durable lockdown from Wednesday till 5 January.