Coronavirus live news: France to ease lockdown as global deaths pass 1.4m | World news

China recorded five new Covid-19 cases on 24 November, down from 22 a day earlier, the national health authority said on Wednesday.

All new cases were imported infections originating from overseas, the National Health Commission said in a statement.

The commission also reported six new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, compared with eight a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 86,469, while the death toll is at 4,634.

A charity has called it “heartbreaking” that in the UK, care home residents over 65 will not be allowed to join loved ones at Christmas, despite an easing of restrictions over the festive period.

Families will be allowed to reunite when measures are temporarily eased from 23 to 27 December, allowing three households to form a “Christmas bubble”.

But government guidance for care homes in England says that outside visits should only be considered for residents of working age, due to the increased risk of exposure to coronavirus:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon shorten the length of self-quarantine period recommended after potential exposure to the coronavirus, a top official said on Tuesday.

Health authorities currently recommend a 14-day quarantine in order to curb transmission of the virus but an official said Tuesday that there is evidence that the period could be shortened if patients are tested for the virus during their quarantine.

“Let me confirm that we are constantly reviewing the evidence and we are starting to have evidence that a shorter quarantine complemented by tests might be able to shorten that quarantine period from 14 days to shorter days,” a top US health official said on a Tuesday press call.

He did not say what the duration of a shorter quarantine period might be.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the new quarantine period would likely be between seven and 10 days and include a test to prove that the person no longer has Covid-19, citing a CDC official.

The official added that people might be more likely to comply with a shorter quarantine period, even if it meant some infections might be missed, the Journal reported.

In France, president Emmanuel Macron announced a three-stage easing of the country’s month-long lockdown, beginning this weekend with the reopening of “non-essential” businesses such as hairdressers and clothes shops, which will have to observe strict distancing rules and close at 9pm.

Churches and some cultural venues will also be able to reopen from 1 December, with a maximum of 30 visitors, and people would be allowed to exercise within a 20km (12-mile) radius of their homes and for up to three hours, rather than the current 1km, one-hour limits.

Providing infection numbers have fallen to about 5,000 a day, lockdown will be formally lifted on 15 December, allowing holiday travel, Macron said – although a nationwide 9pm-7am curfew would be in force except on 24 and 31 December, and all private festive gatherings would be expected to observe strict distancing rules.

A third stage would begin from 20 January, Macron said, when bars, restaurants and clubs should be able to reopen.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

My name is Helen Sullivan and if you want global coronavirus news, you’ve come to the right place.

If you would like jokes – or to ask serious questions and send helpful feedback, you’ll be wanting my Twitter handle: @helenrsullivan.

In France, president Emmanuel Macron announced a three-stage easing of the country’s month-long lockdown, beginning this weekend with the reopening of “non-essential” businesses such as hairdressers and clothes shops, which will have to observe strict distancing rules and close at 9pm.

Meanwhile the global death toll has passed another sad milestone, with more than 1.4m dead since the start of the pandemic after more than 8,000 deaths were reported.

Global cases are nearing 60m.

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

• Germany’s 16 federal states are likely to approve gatherings of a maximum of 10 people during the festive season, according to a draft proposal due to be discussed on Wednesday by state premiers and the country’s chancellor, Angela Merkel.
• In the UK, families will be able to gather in three-household groups of any size over Christmas, bringing warnings from scientists that the plan will almost inevitably see a rise in the number of coronavirus cases. Ministers said the “Christmas bubbles” would require people to make a “personal judgment” over risk for older relatives and others. The new rules will allow people to travel around freely from 23 to 27 December, irrespective of what local tier of Covid restrictions they live in.
• The Spanish government is planning to limit festive gatherings to six people and to set a 1am to 6am curfew for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, according to a leaked document seen by Spanish newspapers. “With respect to family gatherings, we recommend they be limited to members of the same household.
• The Finnish capital, Helsinki, meanwhile, is introducing tough new restrictions after a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases, with high schools, libraries and swimming pools to be closed and public events banned outright.
• In Sweden, whose light-touch anti-lockdown approach has attracted international attention, the country’s health watchdog criticised “serious shortcomings” in nursing homes, which account for nearly half of Sweden’s 6,400 Covid-19 deaths.
• Russia’s deputy prime minister, Tatiana Golikova, said on Tuesday the country’s coronavirus situation was becoming “more complicated” with the onset of autumn and winter. Russia recorded a record 25,173 new daily infections on Monday.