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What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Russia reports record daily death toll
Russia reported a record high of 439 new deaths linked to the novel coronavirus and authorities in Moscow said they could consider imposing additional restrictions if the situation worsened.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he did not expect the surge in cases in the capital, which reported nearly 6,000 new infections on Thursday, to subside any time soon.
He said about 12,000 coronavirus patients were currently hospitalized.
The sprawling city of nearly 13 million people has already ordered bars, restaurants and nightclubs to close at 11 p.m. and moved university and college students to online learning.

China says it faces rising risks from imported infections
China is facing an increased risk of local transmission in the winter due to imported coronavirus cases as the spread of the global pandemic accelerates, a senior official at the country's health authority said.
In winter, there might be sporadic cases in some areas in China and some pocket cluster cases in others, Li Bin, vice minister of the National Health Commission, told a news conference.
Countries such as India, Brazil and France are reporting tens of thousands of new infections daily.
In contrast, China has largely controlled the spread of the virus since early summer, although clusters of community infections have periodically hit parts of the country.

Germany sees COVID-19 restrictions through winter
Germany's health minister said he expects restrictions imposed to curb the pandemic will continue through winter, with life unlikely to get back to normal in December or January even if infections fall.
Germany reported 21,866 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 727,553 and jumping back above 20,000 after four days below that figure.

Gates Foundation adds $70 million more funding for vaccines
The Gates Foundation added another $70 million of funding to global efforts to develop and distribute vaccines and treatments, saying it hoped other international donors would now also pledge more.
An extra $50 million will go to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment led by the GAVI vaccine alliance and another $20 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is co-funding development of several vaccine candidates.

Olympic athletes exempted from 14-day isolation
Athletes arriving in Tokyo for next year's Olympic Games will be exempt from the 14-day isolation period Japan has imposed on anyone arriving from overseas.
Olympic organizers said measures for athletes are likely to include testing within 72 hours before arriving in Japan.
But they warned decisions on spectators from overseas have yet to be made, saying a 14-day quarantine was "impossible".

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: GDP, Burberry, Insurers, Telstra
There's little room for economic optimism for the UK, the pandemic is prompting Burberry to ditch its markdown addiction and Australian telecommunications titan Telstra is trying to find a silver lining from the pandemic.
Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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U.S.

President-elect Joe Biden will press on with building his governing team on Thursday, ignoring President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat.
New records for coronavirus infections and hospitalizations ensured that the transition will be dominated by the response to the pandemic, which has accelerated since the Nov. 3 election. Trump remains in office until Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
On Wednesday, Biden, who has shrugged off Trump’s challenge to his victory, named long-time adviser Ron Klain as his White House chief of staff, his first major appointment.

As President Donald Trump seeks to discredit last week’s election with baseless claims of voter fraud, his team has bombarded his supporters with requests for money to help pay for legal challenges to the results: “The Left will try to STEAL this election!” reads one text.
But any small-dollar donations from Trump’s grassroots donors won’t be going to legal expenses at all, according to a Reuters review of the legal language in the solicitations.

Incoming U.S. Treasury secretaries have been confronted over the past two decades with the financial rescue of other countries, the bailout of the U.S. banking system and a trade war.
But whoever Joe Biden chooses may face an agenda of historic depth and breadth, fighting crises while pursuing the lofty goals the president-elect set during his campaign.
Biden’s Treasury pick will have to cope with a recession and joblessness, as well as serving as the fulcrum to address wealth inequality, climate change and other issues.

world

Hong Kong’s opposition staged a final show of defiance in the legislature on Thursday before resigning to protest against the dismissal of four of their colleagues in what they see as another bid by Beijing to suppress democracy in the city.
The withdrawal of the opposition from the city legislature will mean an end for what has been one of the few forums for dissent after Beijing’s imposition of national security legislation in June and coronavirus restrictions ended pro-democracy protests that began last year.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Thursday that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden wanted Britain to reach a Brexit trade deal with the European Union, so Prime Minister Boris Johnson should knuckle down.
Biden’s win in the U.S. presidential election has changed the international context of Brexit: U.S. President Donald Trump backed Britain’s decision to leave the EU, while Biden served as vice president under Barack Obama, who advised against it.

Ethiopia’s military has defeated local forces in the west of Tigray state, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday, accusing his foes of atrocities during a week of fighting that threatens to destabilise the Horn of Africa.
Air strikes and ground combat have killed hundreds, sent refugees flooding into Sudan, stirred Ethiopia’s ethnic divisions and raised questions over the credentials of Abiy, Africa’s youngest leader who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.

Hundreds of disillusioned doctors leave Lebanon, in blow to healthcare. Fouad Boulos returned to Beirut in 2007 from the United States having trained there in pathology and laboratory medicine.
He was so confident that Lebanon was the right place to be that he gave up his American residence green card.