Many countries of the world continue to record records in infections and deaths caused by the emerging Corna virus, amid a state of optimism after Pfizer announced that its experimental vaccine is more than 90% effective.

In the latest developments, White House sources said that White House Director of Political Affairs Brian Jack and one of his subordinates have tested positive for the Corona virus, according to what was reported by Bloomberg News.

And Bloomberg added that Hailey Bumgardner, a Trump ally who attended the White House election night party as a guest of Rudy Giuliani, was also infected with the Corona virus.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that the total number of Corona virus infections in the United States has reached 10 million and 170 thousand and 846 cases, while the number of deaths increased to 239 thousand and 590 cases after the disease killed 1,859 others.

Italy crosses the million mark, and


in Italy, a Reuters census showed that the total number of new Corona virus infections exceeded the one million mark on Wednesday, bypassing Mexico to become one of the ten countries that have the largest number of cases of the disease.

The Italian Ministry of Health said that the country recorded 32,961 new cases of Coronavirus during the past 24 hours, which raised the total to one million and 28 thousand cases since the pandemic reached the country in February.

The Reuters count shows that the 10 most affected countries in the world have more than two-thirds of the global cases, and the United States tops the list, which also includes 4 European countries other than Italy, which are Russia, France, Spain and Britain.

First partial closure in Sweden Sweden


plans to impose a partial closure, for the first time since the start of the Corona pandemic, on bars and restaurants by banning the sale of alcoholic drinks after 10 pm, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The restrictions represent a departure from previous guidelines for the country, which relied mainly on voluntary measures to stop the spread of the new Corona virus.

The new procedure is scheduled to take effect across the country from November 20, and means that all shops that have a license to serve alcoholic drinks must be closed by 10:30 pm.

"We are facing a situation that could turn black, like the darkness of the night," Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said at a news conference in Stockholm. "We risk that we end up with the situation we witnessed last spring."

The date for the distribution of vaccines in Europe


In an "optimistic" scenario, the European Union may start "in the first quarter of 2021" to distribute the first vaccines against Covid-19, which continues to spread throughout the world.

Andrea Amon, director of the European Agency for Epidemics, declared in an interview with the French Press Agency Wednesday that the situation on the epidemic front in Europe is "very worrying" and "all our indicators go in the bad direction," and she called on Europeans to respect the restrictions imposed "no matter how difficult it is."

And she emphasized, in response to a question about the expected date for the first vaccines in Europe, "If we were optimistic in the first quarter of next year, but I could not be more precise."

"Of course, Pfizer's announcement is very promising," Amon said. "It is a press release and not a peer evaluation, so we have to wait for the final opinion."

On Wednesday, the European Commission announced that it had agreed to a contract with Pfizer and Biontec that would allow it to purchase 300 million doses of the vaccine.

Three other agreements were concluded with the Swedish-British "AstraZeneca", the American "Johnson & Johnson" (up to 400 million doses from each group), and the French-British "Sanofi-GSK" (up to 300 million doses).

Israeli talks with Pfizer


On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his country is in talks with the Pfizer drug company to obtain a possible vaccine to prevent Covid-19, although no agreements have been signed yet.

On Monday, Pfizer said that its experimental vaccine is more than 90% effective, which is considered a major progress in combating a pandemic that has killed more than a million people and exhausted the global economy and turned the course of daily life upside down.

Several countries have already signed agreements with Pfizer to receive millions of doses of its potential vaccine.

In a statement, Netanyahu said he had spoken with the company's CEO, Albert Burla.

"After this conversation ... I am convinced that we will complete the contract with Pfizer," Netanyahu added.

Israel already has an agreement with Moderna on future purchases of its vaccine that it is developing to prevent Corona virus, and has held talks with other companies.

Israel has also begun clinical trials in humans for its potential vaccine.