New Covid-19 cases in Germnay are on rise once again, while the number of deaths continue to decline steadily, according to health officials cited by dpa. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) put new infections on Wednesday at 985, while the figure a week ago was 808. While 48 people had died over the past 24 hours, they were 56 a week ago.

Russia on Saturday has reported its highest daily COVID-19 death toll of the year as the country grapples with a sharp spike in infections that has brought new restrictions in some regions.

AstraZeneca announced on Friday the EU had lost a legal case against the pharmaceutical firm over the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, with a court in Brussels rejecting an EU request for more deliveries by the end of June.

What if there was a non-invasive way to tell if someone in the room with you is infected with the coronavirus? British scientists say they have developed a ceiling-mounted Covid "alarm" that can detect anyone infected in as little as 15 minutes, dpa summarises.

The coronavirus infections in England have halved since March helped by the swift rollout of vaccines, but new variants remain a threat, according to the findings of a closely watched survey released on Thursday. The REACT study, run by scientists at Imperial College London, found that the number of infections has fallen with an average of only one in 1,000 people infected.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany jumped on Thursday by 17,504 to 2,612,268, the biggest daily rise since 22 January, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) data showed. The reported death toll rose by 227 to 74,132, while the number of new cases per 100,000 people over seven days rose to 90, compared to 86 a day earlier.

The Commission tabled on Wednesday a regulation on a digital green certificate, a “temporary” measure supposed to facilitate safe free movement inside the EU during the Covid-19 pandemic. It will verify that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the virus infection.

The EU on Wednesday threatened to ban exports of Covid-19 vaccines to Britain to safeguard enough doses for its own citizens as the Union is facing a third wave of the pandemic that may jeopardise plans to restart travel by summer, news wires reported.

Wales started today returning to normal life with hairdressers reopening and children returning to school, dpa reported. As of today children aged 4 to 11 and teenagers aged 14 to 17 have returned to school for the first time in 2021. Hairdressers and barbers have also reopened for bookings-only appointments.

The head of Germany’s public health agency on Friday warned that a third wave of coronavirus infections has already begun, news wires reported. It comes at a time when the country has started to gradually relax lockdown restrictions, amid a government-led effort to speed up its vaccination roll out to as many adults as possible.