From BBC.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned of another 8-10 weeks of "tough measures" to defeat Covid-19, according to Bild newspaper. It says she's told officials that if the British variant of Covid-19 isn't kept at bay, there'll be a 10-fold increase in German cases by Easter. Germany has reported another 891 deaths in the past 24 hours - and another 12,800 cases.
Portugal’s outgoing President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has tested positive for Covid-19 and cancelled all his engagements. The 72-year-old is described as asymptomatic and he’s having a second test to confirm last night’s result. Portugal has presidential elections on 24 January and the other candidates have taken part in recent TV debates with Mr de Sousa.
A day after Johns Hopkins University figures indicated Ireland had the world's highest number of confirmed new Covid-19 cases per million people, public broadcaster RTÉ says 13 hospitals have been listed as having no intensive care beds free. But new cases fell last night to 4,929 and Prof Philip Nolan of Ireland's virus modelling group says there are signs the country is "beginning to turn a corner".
The EU's medicines regulator says it could decide whether to authorise the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine on 29 January. The EU is trying to ramp up vaccinations after a slow start. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said earlier this week he had asked Israel to help supply vaccines.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reportedly wants the EU to back a pan-European vaccination certificate to enable free movement for those who’ve had the jab. Politico has seen his letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.