Britain's finance minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday warned that the British economy was under "enormous strain" because of the coronavirus, ahead of a government spending review next week

G20 leaders will pledge to "spare no effort" in ensuring fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines worldwide, and reaffirm support for debt-laden poor countries, according to a draft communique seen by AFP Sunday.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Sunday lashed out at anti-mask protesters comparing themselves to Nazi victims, accusing them of trivializing the Holocaust and "making a mockery" of the courage shown by resistance fighters.

U.S. drug regulators have given emergency approval to a Covid-19 antibody therapy as G20 nations pushed for global access to vaccines as the pandemic led to further closures in parts of the world.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday warned Poles against any travel over the Christmas period, as he announced that most coronavirus restrictions would be extended but shops would re-open.

Saudi Arabia hosts the G20 summit Saturday in a first for an Arab nation, with the virtual forum dominated by efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and the worst global recession in decades.

After months of turmoil and over 42,000 deaths, Spain appeared to see light at the end of the tunnel Friday, announcing ambitious plans to vaccinate much of the population by mid-2021. 

"Our forecasts, under almost any reasonable scenario, show that a very substantial part of the Spanish population will be able to be vaccinated, with all guarantees, within the first half of the year," said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. 

The anti-viral drug remdesivir should not be used to treat Covid-19 patients no matter how severe their illness as it has "no important effect" on survival chances, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Mexico passed the 100,000 mark in COVID-19 deaths Thursday, becoming only the fourth country — behind the United States, Brazil and India — to do so.

José Luis Alomía Zegarra, Mexico's director of epidemiology, said there were 100,104 confirmed COVID-19 deaths as of Thursday. The milestone comes less than a week after Mexico said it had topped 1 million registered coronavirus cases, though officials agree the number is probably much higher because of low levels of testing.

The United States' top infectious disease official said Thursday that two coronavirus vaccines being tested were "solid," and that the speed at which they were developed has not compromised safety or integrity.