TOP HEADLINES

· Germany's parliament is debating new rules as the country's state of emergency is due to expire on November 25. Instead of an extension to the state of emergency, the country's possible three-way coalition is hoping to formalize and extend current measures, such as face-mask requirements.

They are also trying to make free testing available again and to reopen vaccination centers.

· On Thursday, Germany reported 50,196 new cases in 24 hours, the highest number recorded in the country during the pandemic. Efforts are continuing to increase the number of people vaccinated. 

· The Netherlands is considering imposing Western Europe's first partial lockdown since summer after reporting its highest number of cases since the pandemic began.

It reported 16,364 new cases in 24 hours, breaking the previous record set in December of last year.  

If the partial lockdown is imposed, cafes and restaurants could be required to close early, although schools will remain open.

The country is set to decide on the measures on Friday.

· A deadly fire in a COVID-19 hospital in Romania killed two patients and injured a nurse. The fire broke out at 2 a.m. GMT in the city of Ploiesti and was contained to just one room.

It is the fourth deadly fire at a Romanian hospital during the pandemic. In October, seven patients died in a blaze at an intensive care unit of a hospital in the city of Constanta on the shore of the Black Sea. In January, five patients died in a fire at a Bucharest hospital. In November 2020, another blaze killed 15 patients at a hospital in Piatra Neamt in the northeast of the country.

· The European Medicines Agency has recommended adding transverse myelitis, a rare spinal inflammation, to the list of side effects for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The organization is updating its safety evaluation for all the COVID-19 jabs and it also said it is looking into a condition called capillary leak syndrome for Moderna's vaccine.

But it added that there is currently not enough evidence to determine a link between it and the Moderna jab.

· Slovakia's parliament is debating imposing stricter restrictions as its number of cases continues to rise.

The country admitted 2,532 people to hospital on Thursday. And some hospitals have reported they had to limit non-urgent care to deal with the strain.

In total, 6,546 people tested positive in that period, a slight decrease from the 7,055 reported on Wednesday.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

CGTN Europe: France to increase 'health pass' checks amid spike in COVID-19 cases

CGTN China: Chinese mainland records 62 confirmed COVID-19 cases

CGTN America: French study warns of rare side effects in Moderna vaccine

CGTN Africa: Moderna offers $7 COVID-19 to African Union