South Africa Locks Down; Luxembourg PM Has Covid: Virus Update

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa raised the nation’s coronavirus alert status to its second-highest level, banning all gatherings and closing schools for two weeks. Luxembourg’s prime minister tested positive for Covid. In Australia, officials expect the number of infections in Sydney’s outbreak to increase in coming days, even as the city is now in a lockdown.

Hospitalizations and the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units across New York state have fallen to the lowest level since the pandemic began. AstraZeneca Plc started trials of a new variant vaccine that will be tested on people fully inoculated with two doses of Vaxzevria or an mRNA shot.