TOP HEADLINES

- A mass roll-out of a COVID-19 vaccine in the UK could be ready in as little as three months, according to a report in The Times.

- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Germany increased by 2,563 to 296,958, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute on Saturday.

- Russia reported 9,859 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the highest number of daily infections since 15 May.

- The UK has added Poland, Turkey and three Caribbean islands to its quarantine list, meaning travelers from those countries must self-isolate for 14 days.

- Czechia has witnessed a record daily rise of COVID-19 cases, after 3,793 were recorded on Friday, 300 more than the previous day.

- The Spanish government has put Madrid into a partial lockdown in a bid to halt the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

- Liverpool's Sadio Mane has tested positive for COVID-19 and will now spend a period of time in self isolation.

- Northumbria University, in northeast England, said on Friday it had been hit by a mass outbreak of COVID-19 with at least 770 students testing positive for the virus.

ACROSS EUROPE

Rahul Pathak in Madrid

Madrid's regional authority is launching a legal challenge against the Spanish government, after it became the first European capital to go back into lockdown. 

The restrictions came into force at 22:00 local time on Friday.  The new regulations ban non-essential travel to and from the Spanish capital. Social gatherings will now be limited and a curfew for bars and restaurants has been moved from 01:00 to 23:00.

The partial lockdown also applies to nine nearby municipalities with at least 100,000 inhabitants each.

Madrid currently has a contagion rate of 780 cases per 100,000 people, nearly three times the national average. The restrictions are expected to last two weeks.

CLICK: HOW AI WILL CONTROL THIS BOAT DURING ITS 5,000 KILOMETER VOYAGE

Alec Fenn in London

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denied that a rise in COVID-19 cases in the north-east of England is the result of a lack of testing.

Large parts of northern England have been forced back into regional lockdowns in recent weeks, with the north-east badly affected by a surge in cases. 

But Johnson insists a lack of testing in the area isn't to blame and suggested that complacency was the reason for the virus spreading.

"That's not the reality… the nation came together in March and April, what happened over the summer was a bit of sort of fraying of people's discipline and attention to those rules," he said.

France

French Health Minister Gilles Bloch has called for tens of thousands of people to volunteer to undergo COVID-19 vaccine trials. 

A French vaccine has entered the third phase of clinical trials and Bloch says it could even be ready for a nationwide roll-out before the end of the year.

He said: "There is extraordinary work being done by the scientific community, and the industrial community. In the best-case scenario, we could have a vaccination [ready] by the middle of winter."

He continued: "We can be reasonably optimistic, because we have trials that are in phase three [the phase before being sold on the market]. These trials are on thousands of healthy volunteers, allowing us to ensure efficiency and safety."

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES:

-CGTN U.S.: Trump transferred to Walter Reed Medical National Military Medical Center

-CGTN Asia: Chinese mainland reports 10 new cases of COVID-19, all from overseas

-CGTN Africa: South Africa to unveil $1.8bn infrastructure project

Sources: Reuters, AP