ROME — Italy on Sunday registered 484 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, one of its lowest daily death tolls in about a month. But those latest deaths were enough to eclipse Britain’s toll as having Europe’s highest toll in the pandemic, according to tracking done by Johns Hopkins University.
Counting criteria differ in the two countries, and many deaths, especially early in the pandemic in Italy, are believed to have gone undetected.
According to the Italian Health Ministry on Sunday, Italy’s known death toll stood at 64,520. Britain’s toll, according to Johns Hopkins data, stood at 64,267 as of Sunday evening.
Italy added nearly 18,000 coronavirus infections from the previous day, raising the nation’s official tally over 1.84 million. By far, the region registering the highest number of new infections in the last 24 hours was the northern region of Veneto, which in the first surge last spring had fared better than its neighbor Lombardy.
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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— Trucks with the first COVID-19 vaccine containers in the US are rolling out to vaccination sites, and all states are expected to have some by Monday. About 3 million doses were expected to be sent out in the first shipments, which are staggered through Wednesday. Germany is stepping up its lockdown measures through the Christmas holiday — from Dec. 16 to Jan. 10. Chancellor Angela Merkel says existing restrictions imposed in November failed to significantly reduce the number of new infections. New cases are lower but still rising in parts of Asia, with both Japan and South Korea hitting record numbers in daily new infections.
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
ALGIERS, Algeria — Still recovering from COVID-19, Algeria’s president has suddenly reappeared after nearly two months out of the public eye.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in a video message Sunday that it may still be several more weeks before he is fit enough to return to the North African country. He fell ill and then left for treatment in Germany in late October. Before his 4-minute, 54-second video message, his last public appearance had been in mid-October, in a meeting with France’s foreign minister.
The 75-year-old Tebboune spoke clearly in the video and did not seem short of breath. He has, however, clearly lost weight.
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SEATTLE — The American spirit of generosity this holiday season may be no match for nonprofits dealing with the coronavirus.
Despite record amounts of charitable donations this year, nonprofits across the country are being suffocated by the effects of the pandemic as organizations face soaring costs and demands for help, yet are largely without their own support systems, including volunteers and in-person fundraising events.
December is generally the most important month for nonprofit revenues, as Christmas and end-of-year tax deductions typically drive a flood of charitable giving. All that might not be enough.
There have been efforts to encourage more giving since the coronavirus took hold of modern life in March.
The IRS is urging the public to utilize a…
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