Nearly a decade after hundreds of thousands of Syrians arrived in Germany, many are now well-integrated and settled in jobs — and tens of thousands have gained German citizenship.

Germany’s Viessmann Group is selling its heat pump business, viewed as a key technology in making heating more climate-friendly, to Florida-based Carrier Global Corp. as part of a 12 billion-euro ($13.2 billion) deal.

Germany’s health minister says the rapid rise in coronavirus cases means it’s likely everyone in the country who isn’t vaccinated will have caught COVID-19 by the end of the winter, and some of those will die.

Germany’s disease control center is calling for people to cancel or avoid large events and to reduce their contacts as the country’s coronavirus infection rate hits the latest in a string of new highs.

Germany’s health minister is calling for booster vaccinations to be stepped up and for more frequent checks of people’s vaccination or test status as new COVID-19 infections increase.

Germany’s outgoing health minister is calling on state governments to reactivate some specialized COVID-19 vaccination centers that were closed in the late summer to help administer booster shots as new coronavirus infections increase rapidly.

Germany’s health minister has partly blamed “incitement” against the government’s pandemic rules on social media for the killing of a gas station clerk by a man who refused to wear a face mask.

Germany’s top health official has called on more citizens to get vaccinated.

Germany will start offering coronavirus vaccinations for all children and teenagers aged 12 and older.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is urging Germany's residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Germany has now given at least one coronavirus vaccine shot to more than half of its population, a milestone in what is now a fast-moving vaccination campaign.

A Berlin university has stripped a prominent former German minister of her doctorate following a long-running saga over plagiarism allegations that led to her resignation last month.

German authorities are investigating allegations of fraud involving the massive rollout of free coronavirus tests.

The German government is following up on media reports that some coronavirus testing centers have overbilled authorities for the number of tests taken.

Germany making the AstraZeneca vaccine available immediately to all adults.

Pfizer and BioNTech have submitted a request to the European drug regulator for the approval of their coronavirus vaccine to be extended to include children aged 12 to 15 years old, in a move that could offer younger and less at-risk populations in Europe access to the shot for the first time.

German lawmakers have approved a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to mandate uniform restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly.

New Mexico health officials say they are preparing to respond to pockets of vaccine hesitancy in some communities as overall interest increases in receiving the vaccine for COVID-19.

Germany’s health minister says the European Union doesn’t plan to order Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine but his country will hold talks with Russia on whether an individual order makes sense.

The U.S. 7th Fleet that operates throughout the Indo-Pacific says more than 14,000 of its service members have received their full doses of the coronavirus vaccine, which it began administering on January 5.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two changes to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that can provide extra doses from each vial.

It comes less than two weeks after the EU drug regulator said the vaccine does not increase the overall incidence of blood clots following a similar scare. AdUse of the AstraZeneca vaccine was temporarily halted in several European countries earlier this month over concerns about the rare blood clots. On Monday, Canada suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in people under 55, citing new concerning data from Europe. Appointments for the AstraZeneca shot were available sooner than for those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna due to higher demand for those vaccines. The study, which hasn't been peer-reviewed yet, doesn't provide a conclusive explanation for why some people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca shot develop the rare blood clots.

That increased the state’s totals to 839,334 confirmed cases and 16,912 confirmed deaths. Ad___RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil accounts for a quarter of the daily coronavirus global deaths, more than any other nation. AdThere have been 12.4 million confirmed cases and more than 307,000 confirmed deaths in Brazil, second only to the United States. AdPakistan has reported 649,824 total confirmed cases and 14,158 confirmed deaths. The nation of 10.7 million had 1.5 million confirmed cases with 25,639 deaths.

Doug Ducey said the site switch will maintain the state’s vaccination program’s presence in southeastern Maricopa County while protecting staff, volunteers and people getting vaccinated. Greece is currently grappling with a surge in coronavirus infections which has seen many hospitals run by the state health system reach capacity. 23, a total of 42,028 COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed on the island nation of around 900,000 people, of which 248 died due to COVID-19. Kate Brown said those groups will now be eligible to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 5. ___PHOENIX — Arizona on Friday reported 571 new coronavirus cases and 24 deaths as the number of virus-related hospitalizations remained fairly stable.

The EU's drug regulatory agency called a meeting for Thursday to review experts' findings on the AstraZeneca shot and decide whether action needs to be taken. The AstraZeneca shot has become a key tool in European countries' efforts to boost their sluggish vaccine rollouts. Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines are also used on the European continent, and J&J's one-shot vaccine has been authorized but not yet delivered. AdAlmost 940,000 people in Spain have received the AstraZeneca shot. Some European countries, meanwhile, have begun reimposing restrictions in a bid to beat back a resurgence in infections, many of them from variants of the original virus.

Denmark was the first to temporarily halt use of the AstraZeneca vaccine Thursday after reports of blood clots in some people. It said the number of people with blood clots in vaccinated people was no higher than those who hadn’t been inoculated. Britain’s medicines regulator also said it had not received any reports of blood clots in people that were caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine. The EU drug regulator did say, separately, that product information for the AstraZeneca vaccine should be updated to note that cases of severe allergic reactions have been reported. AdThe suggested update is based on a review of 41 reported cases of anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reactions, that were identified among 5 million people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Indian men wait in an observation room after receiving the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine at a government hospital in Hyderabad, India, Friday, March 12, 2021. The state health department sent a notice Thursday to the hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and other community providers of the coronavirus vaccine detailing the state’s expectations. AdBrazil has already secured contracts for 200 million vaccine doses, half made by AstraZeneca and half by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac. It could use those mechanisms as well to expand eligibility___PRAGUE — The health authorities in the Czech Republic have administered over 1 million coronavirus vaccine shots. Blatny says the country will receive 1.13 million vaccines of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca in March.

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 4, 2021 file photo, frozen vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are taken out to thaw, at the MontLegia CHC hospital in Liege, Belgium. The European Commission has secured an agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech for an extra 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to tackle a surge of coronavirus clusters that have prompted border restrictions. The European Commission said Wednesday that the deal will help “tackle coronavirus hot spots” and facilitate free border movement. The European Commission said the new Pfizer-BioNTech doses will be made available for purchase to all member states on a pro-rata basis. Overall, the EU has signed six contracts for more than 2 billion vaccine doses, with Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Johnson & Johnson and CureVac.

A package of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is shown in the state of Brandenburg where the first coronavirus vaccinations are given in doctors' surgeries, in Senftenberg, Germany, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. The decision is “good news for older people who are waiting for a vaccination," German Health Minister Jens Spahn said. The German panel said its new guidance also suggests waiting 12 weeks between administering the first and second AstraZeneca shots, as studies show this increases the vaccine's effectiveness. Britain, which has had a notably successful vaccination rollout, has been going with the 12-week spacing for vaccine shots since last year. France, Belgium and Italy already loosened their age restrictions for the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this week as European nations scramble to confront a looming third spike in COVID-19 cases.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Zoo has vaccinated nine great apes for the coronavirus after a troop of gorillas in its Safari Park became infected. AdThere have been no new community cases of the virus found in Auckland or elsewhere in New Zealand for the past five days. Ad___SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah will open up COVID-19 vaccine appointments to people ages 50 and older on Monday. ___JACKSON, Miss.-- People ages 50 and older in Mississippi are now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine, Gov. — Arkansas’ highest court and the governor are at odds over whether judges, prosecutors and other court employees should be immediately eligible for the coronavirus vaccine.

Robert Koch Institute President Lothar Wieler said Germany may be heading toward another “turning point” in the pandemic after weeks of falling infections. “The decline of recent weeks doesn't appear to be continuing,” Wieler told reporters in Berlin, noting that in one German state — Thuringia — weekly case numbers are on the rise again. Germany has recorded almost 2.4 million confirmed infections and 67,206 deaths from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. Earlier this week, he said the variant first detected in Britain accounts for 22% of the cases in Germany, up from 6% two weeks ago. AdSpahn told reporters in Berlin on Friday that the government wants to double the number of vaccinations in the coming weeks, from about 140,000 per day at present.

Health officials say the first shipments of the Chinese and Russian vaccines will be used in low-income neighborhoods of Mexico City or its suburbs. — Millions of vulnerable U.S. residents will need COVID-19 vaccines brought to them because they rarely or never leave their homes. Johnson & Johnson in December agreed to provide up to 500 million doses of its vaccine to COVAX through 2022. Ad“If we are to end the global pandemic, life-saving innovations like vaccines must be within reach for all countries,” Johnson & Johnson Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Stoffels said in a statement. The state health department has scheduled vaccination clinics during the weekend to replace those postponed due to a winter storm.

The news came only hours after Pfizer and BioNTech said they had signed a deal to deliver an additional 200 million vaccine doses to the bloc. Von der Leyen also unveiled EU plans to better detect virus variants and to speed up the approval of adapted vaccines capable of countering them. Authorities in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, expressed concerns that some people appeared less willing to take the AstraZeneca vaccine than those made by Moderna or Pfizer. Ad“The authorized AstraZeneca vaccine isn't a second-class vaccine,” the state's health ministry said. Pfizer and German partner BioNTech confirmed that they, too, have finalized an agreement to supply the EU with another 200 million vaccine doses.

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2021, file photo, Sri Lankan nursing staff administer COVID-19 vaccines to front-line health workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Reynolds issued the earlier restrictions in November when hospitals were struggling to care for a surge of coronavirus patients. Officials say it could help up to four COVID-19 patients. ___LISBON, Portugal — Portugal has set a new daily record for COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care with 904 patients on Friday. AdThe Austrian government offered to take in five COVID-19 patients and five non-COVID patients to relieve Portuguese hospitals.

The state crossed that mark Monday, exactly a year after officials reported the first case of a coronavirus infection in Massachusetts. — Maryland’s acting health secretary says the state’s hospitals have received less than half of their expected allocations of second doses of the coronavirus vaccine for front-line health workers this week. Schrader says state officials were talked with the federal Department of Health and Human Services all weekend trying to figure out what happened. The CDC says Iowa has delivered 190,689 first vaccine doses to individuals, or 6,044 per 100,000 people, the third lowest rate in the nation. Ad___PRAGUE — The Czech Republic is not planning to limit use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for elderly people like some other European Union nations.

Plastic surgeon Daniel Suver receives the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine from Andrea Castelblanco during a vaccine clinic on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage is averaging about 60 new COVID-19 cases a day, said Dr. Janet Johnston, the epidemiologist for the Anchorage Health Department. More than 90 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will be produced in Japan. Ad___SACRAMENTO -- California reported its second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths — while the rates of new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continue to drop. ___ALBANY, N.Y. — New York may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents by thousands.

Lucky few get COVID-19 vaccine because of rare extra doses in U.S. New Chinese film praises Wuhan ahead of lockdown anniversary. Members of Idaho’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee met Friday to help clarify exactly who should have first dibs on the state’s doses. ___SEATTLE -- A suburban Seattle man who advertised a supposed COVID-19 “vaccine” he said he created in his personal lab, has been arrested. At that time, there was no authorized COVID-19 vaccine on the market. ___SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is reporting a one-day record of 764 COVID-19 deaths but the rate of new infections is falling.

A Chinese province grappling with a spike in coronavirus cases is reinstating tight restrictions on weddings, funerals and other family gatherings, threatening violators with criminal charges. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)BEIJING — China is now dealing with coronavirus outbreaks across its frigid northeast, prompting additional lockdowns and travel bans. ___WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming White House press secretary says his administration does not intend to lift coronavirus travel restrictions for Europe, the U.K., Ireland and Brazil. ___MADRID — Spain’s Health Ministry has confirmed 84,287 new known coronavirus cases since Friday amid a post-Christmas virus surge. He said 21 people had died from the virus in the past three days, bringing the colony's total virus deaths to 45 since the start of the pandemic.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn delivers a speech during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021 on the current developments of the new coronavirus pandemic in Germany. At left is German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Germany has also ordered 56 million doses from AstraZeneca and more than 100 million from manufacturers whose vaccines have yet to be approved in the EU. But this delayed the start of the vaccination campaign compared to other countries. The country's disease control agency reported 19,600 newly confirmed coronavirus infections in the past day, and 1,060 deaths.

FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn arrive at the weekly cabinet meeting wearing face masks in Berlin, Germany. The coronavirus pandemic is colliding with politics as Germany embarks on its vaccination drive and one of the most unpredictable election years in its post-World War II history. Merkel, who has led Germany since 2005, plans to step down at the September election. It's the first election since post-war West Germany's inaugural vote in 1949 in which there is no incumbent chancellor seeking another term. Spahn rejected the criticism, saying politicians must learn from mistakes but that Germany's vaccination campaign is going according to expectations.

With the Moderna vaccine, the second one now authorized in the EU, we will have a further 160 million doses. The EU has ordered 80 million doses of the Moderna vaccine with an option for a further 80 million. The EU agency gave the green light to use the Moderna vaccine on people age 18 year and above. The Dutch were only beginning to give out vaccine shots Wednesday, the last EU nation to start doing so. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tweeted that approval of the Moderna vaccine “is another important step in the fight against the pandemic.

(AP Photo/Mark Baker)CANBERRA, Australia — Australia is advancing the start of its coronavirus vaccination program to mid-February, with plans to inoculate 15% of the population by late March. Mexico’s vaccination effort continues at a glacial rate, with about 7,500 shots administered Wednesday, a rate similar to previous days. John Bel Edwards and public health officials said Wednesday that efforts are being made to speed up vaccinations for the coronavirus. So far, state officials have administered 126,602 of the 522,550 doses the state has received. More than 329,000 people have been vaccinated in Florida — or about 1.5% of the population — almost all of them either health care workers, residents in care homes, or people over the age of 65.

(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has added 1,092 new coronavirus cases in a resurgence that is erasing hard-won epidemiological gains and eroding public confidence in the government’s ability to handle the outbreak. It would deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Preliminary data on U.S. deaths show the coronavirus pandemic contributing to a 15% or more increase in deaths over last year. ___MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have reported a new daily high in confirmed coronavirus cases as the country awaits its first shipment of vaccine. ___WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation is reporting 151 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths related to COVID-19.

A cross is seen near a refrigeration container storing Covid-19 victims on the cemetery in Hanau near Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. The stored bodies coming from homes or hospitals are later taken by an undertaker for the funeral. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Germany has risen over the past two weeks from almost 350 deaths per day on Dec. 2 to almost 545 deaths per day on Dec. 16. In total, Germany has recorded over 1.4 million confirmed cases and more than 24,500 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Some German towns have begun resorting to storing the bodies of coronavirus victims in cooled containers next to cemeteries until they can be buried.

Germany has entered a harder lockdown, closing shops and schools in an effort to bring down stubbornly high new cases of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)BERLIN – Germany reported a record level of coronavirus deaths as it entered a harder lockdown Wednesday, closing shops and schools to try to bring down stubbornly high new daily infections. Faced with exponentially increasing cases in October, Germany implemented a “lockdown light” at the start of November, which closed bars and restaurants but left shops open. In Saxony, where the virus is spreading most rapidly in Germany at the moment, hospitals are filling up. While daily new cases peaked in March at about 6,000, they are now more than four times that level, with 27,728 new cases reported Wednesday by the Robert Koch Institute.

The island will prioritize frontline health workers and essential personnel to receive the vaccine first, Yang said. The officials spoke Monday at a George Washington University Hospital event Monday to launch the vaccination of health care workers in the nation’s capital. ___TORONTO — Canada has administered its first doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Ontario received 6,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Sunday night and plans to give them to about 2,500 health-care workers. Andrew Cuomo called the first shot given in the state’s campaign to vaccinate front line health care workers.

Christmas lights shine over a virtually empty shopping street in the old town of Duesseldorf, Germany, on Monday afternoon, Dec. 14, 2020. The agency said it made the decision after receiving additional data from the vaccine makers. The announcement came after Germany’s health minister and others had publicly demanded that the agency move quicker than its previously planned Dec. 29 meeting at which it was to discuss approving the vaccine. The new vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech and American drugmaker Pfizer is already being used in Britain, the United States, Canada and other countries. The German Hospital Association chimed in Tuesday, demanding that the EU shorten its lengthy approval process and issue emergency authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Christmas trees for sale on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020. Chancellor Angela Merkel and the governors of Germany’s 16 states agreed Sunday to step up the country’s lockdown measures beginning Wednesday and running to Jan. 10 to stop the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases. It was especially galling because the vaccine developed by Germany's BioNTech and American drugmaker Pfizer has been authorized for use in Britain, the United States, Canada and other countries. Germany’s central disease control center on Monday reported 16,362 new confirmed cases — about 4,000 more than a week before. “I wish and I hope that people will only buy what they really need, like groceries,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said.

(AP Photo/Michael Probst)BERLIN – Calls grew Friday for tougher lockdown measures soon in Germany as the country’s disease control center reported record daily increases in both coronavirus cases and deaths. The Robert Koch Institute said the country’s 16 states reported 29,875 new cases of COVID-19, breaking the previous daily record of 23,679 cases reported the day before. “We wouldn't be able to forgive ourselves if this Christmas became above all a festival for the virus,” he added. “And if we're honest, the virus doesn't take much account of whether we've all finished our Christmas shopping or not." The latest polls show nearly 50% of Germans are for tougher restrictions, while 35% support the current lockdown measures.

The German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its U.S. partner Pfizer say they have submitted an application for conditional approval of their coronavirus vaccine with the European Medicines Agency. Any approval granted by the European regulator will be conditional on companies submitting further information to confirm the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks. The date now being eyed would be later than some European countries had hoped. The two companies have already submitted data to regulators in the United States and Britain, and approval might come from them first. In the EU, countries typically accept EMA approval for vaccines and drugs unless there is a specific issue the country wants examined further.

Health officials had asked workers in central Auckland to stay home on Friday while they investigated the case but say they can now return to work. — Surge of coronavirus cases appears to be slowing in Germany and France, but still straining hospitals. Alaska has had over 20,000 cases, including 477 new cases reported Thursday. She is scheduled Friday to address the situation and is expected to announce new public health restrictions aimed to curbing spread. That’s the impassioned message that dozens of parents and school administrators are sending to public health officials in Pennsylvania’s third-most populous county.

But glimmers of hope emerged from France, Belgium and elsewhere that tough restrictions might be starting to work. Health Minister Olivier Veran said early indications are that the measures may be starting to slow the latest virus surge and that it would “have flared up faster and stronger” without them. The drop follows a return to partial lockdown measures including the closure of nonessential businesses and extending a school vacation. In Germany, the health minister said increased infections seem to be leveling off but that it’s too early to talk of a trend. But Health Minister Jens Spahn said Monday “we are seeing that the momentum is flattening, that we have less strong increases."

(AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas district judge on Friday upheld an order from El Paso County’s top elected official shutting down businesses while the region fights an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases. The state reported 540 confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours. ___TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas added a record-setting 5,418 new coronavirus cases over two days as hospitals warned that staffing was being seriously strained. ___PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo authorities ordered a weekend lockdown following a spike in daily coronavirus cases. Russia’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases — currently the fourth largest in the world —has exceeded 1.7 million following a quick spread of contagion since September.

Restrictions have been slowly ramping up for weeks in many European countries, but virus cases have continued to rise. Health Minister Jens Spahn, who himself caught the virus, says he doesn't know where he was infected. This time, schools, nonessential shops and hairdressers are staying open. They can go out to exercise or to work, among other things, and nonessential shops will remain open. ___This story has been corrected to show that Austria plans to keep nonessential shops open.

LONDON – European countries are calling for the World Health Organization to be given greater powers to independently investigate outbreaks and compel countries to provide more data, after the devastating coronavirus pandemic highlighted the agency's numerous shortcomings. “The WHO can’t be on its own and carry the weight of this pandemic alone,” he said at a press briefing. Stella Kyriakides, the EU Health Commissioner, noted that EU institutions provided $100 million to WHO last year. The EU also called for “increased transparency ... in addition to a more effective reporting system for countries to provide WHO with data in health emergencies." The EU proposals for WHO reform are expected to be discussed at a meeting of the agency's member states next month.

The new restrictions, widely dubbed a “lockdown light,” are set to take effect on Monday and to last until Nov. 30. They were approved during a videoconference meeting between Merkel and Germany's 16 state governors, who are responsible for imposing and lifting restrictions. Merkel said she and the governors would review the situation after two weeks and possibly “adapt” some measures. “It is completely clear that we must act, and now, to avoid an acute national health emergency," she told reporters in Berlin. Merkel noted that there has been a lot of talk about some activities and business areas not generating infections.

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)Preslie Paur breaks down in tears when she thinks of her state’s refusal to mandate face masks. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that 83,718 new cases were reported Saturday, just shy of the 83,757 infections reported Friday. Before that, the most cases reported in the United States on a single day had been 77,362, on July 16. At least seven states — Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Oklahoma — saw record high infection levels Saturday. Paur, whose brother and his girlfriend both recently tested positive for the virus, is worried about them, and herself.

— Italy’s leader has imposed at least a month of new restrictions across the country to fight rising coronavirus infections. ___Follow all of AP’s coronavirus pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak___HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:DENVER — Colorado Gov. Before that, the most cases reported in the United States on a single day had been 77,362 on July 16. On Sunday, the institute reported 11,176 new daily infections, almost double the number reported a week ago Sunday. —-NEW DELHI — India’s daily coronavirus cases have dropped to nearly 50,000, maintaining a downturn over the last few weeks.

(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s northern border state of Chihuahua returned to the highest level of alert and lockdown Friday after coronavirus cases jumped there and hospitals began to fill up. Brad Little and local public health officials that the state’s healthcare system would soon be swamped until steps are taken to stem the virus’ spread. Still, neither the governor nor the regional public health department has issued a mask mandate. The task force report of Oct. 18 was released Friday by the Iowa Department of Public Health. ___LONDON — Bars, restaurants and most shops have closed across Wales in a lockdown to curb surging coronavirus cases.

The Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Division of Emergency Management will provide more medical personnel and equipment this week. The move comes during the same week that El Paso County reported 3,750 new coronavirus infections, including 1,161 on Thursday. The announcement came Thursday as the state reported 932 newly confirmed coronavirus cases. Wednesday marked another record day for daily confirmed cases, with 827, and state health officials reported an additional 669 cases Thursday. Florida reported more than 5,500 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, raising the seven-day average in daily reported cases to about 3,300.

The National Health Commission numbers released Tuesday reported a total of 30 new virus cases in the previous 24 hours nationwide. ___AUSTIN, Texas -- An ongoing wave of COVID-19 cases in the El Paso area prompted Gov. Since Friday, the state added 2,055 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases, an increase of 3.1%, to bring the total for the pandemic to 67,862. Conley says in a fresh update released Monday that Trump tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days using a newer 15-minute test. The project will produce 50 million swabs per month and is funded by a $51.2 million coronavirus relief grant announced by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in August.

Passengers wear face masks as they leave a train in the central train station in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. That death toll is one-fourth of Britain's and one-third of the confirmed virus toll in Italy. Over the past month the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has doubled to about 450. Earlier this year, as other European countries were reaching the limits of their ICU capacity, Germany took in dozens of foreign patients for treatment, including some from the Netherlands. A spokeswoman for the Dutch Health Ministry, Inge Freriksen, said Thursday that the government has asked Germany as a precautionary measure if it could again move some ICU patients to Germany if necessary.

BERLIN – Germany's coronavirus tracing app has been used to transmit 1.2 million test results from labs to users during its first 100 days, officials said Wednesday. He noted that most app users can now get their COVID-19 test result sent directly to their smartphones, without having to wait for their doctor to inform them. “The faster transmission of test results makes a huge difference,” Spahn said, adding that the tracing of possible contacts is all the more effective the sooner it begins. Almost 5,000 people with positive test results have so far used the app to warn others they were in close contact with, he said. Tim Hoettges, the chief executive of Deutsche Telekom, which developed the app with software giant SAP, said more than 90% of labs in Germany are now able to transmit results directly to users.

(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)BERLIN – Germany says it is providing up to 750 million euros ($892 million) to support three domestic pharmaceutical companies that are developing vaccines against the new coronavirus. The company is developing a vector-based vaccine that delivers a coronavirus protein into cells to stimulate the body’s immune response. The agreement with the three companies, which is tied to specific milestones, would guarantee Germany 40 million doses of vaccine. The amount comes on top of other vaccine supply agreements concluded through the European Union, of which Germany is a member. “I’m firmly convinced we will achieve this voluntarily.”Spahn added that Germany also doesn't intend to hoard vaccines.

Pupil Moritz is on his way to the first day at his new school in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. Students in North Rhine-Westphalia will have to wear face masks at all times due to the coronavirus pandemic as they return to school this Wednesday. The uptick comes as students are returning to school across the country, adding to concerns. He urged Germans not to grow lax about wearing masks or keeping distances, and to practice careful hygiene measures. Two grades at a second school were also sent home on Wednesday as a precaution after a student's sibling tested positive.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn briefs the media about the developing of the coronavirus crisis test strategy in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. What we are seeing is a lot of small outbreaks, Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters. Last Saturday, the government started offering free tests for people returning to the country, a move that Spahn said likely contributed to the increase in recorded cases. The rate of travelers testing positive is up to twice as high as the average for tests in Germany, he said. The minister dismissed arguments by some politicians that people who can afford a vacation should also have to pay for tests themselves.

GENEVA Germanys health minister on Wednesday lamented the formal U.S. notification of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization as a setback for international cooperation and said Europe would work to reform the U.N. health agency. Trump has criticized the U.N. health agency for its response to COVID-19 outbreak and accused its officials of bowing to China. As the biggest contributor so far, the U.S. leaves a big vacuum, Hardt said. He said he expects Germany and other countries to step forward if the U.S. funding and expertise that has benefited WHO ends. ___Geir Moulson in Berlin, Aritz Parra in Madrid and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn, said the country remains a critical friend of the World Health Organization. He said most of the more than 500 million euros was for the agency's plan to stop the coronavirus pandemic. Part of the money 110 million euros had been announced previously. In addition to the cash, Spahn said Germany would also be providing medical equipment including masks for countries struggling to deal with the pandemic. The French contribution is there to remind the World Health Organization that it can count on the friendship of the European Union," Veran said.