Thousands of Germans flocked to the Aldi supermarket chain to buy the first rapid Corona tests being put up for sale across the country, with stocks running out for sale in a few hours.

Aldi appealed to the customers - who were unable to purchase the tests today - to understand the situation, and said that it expects the next shipments to come in the coming days this week.

And his competitor, Lidl, faced a website crash due to high demand, after it began offering home testing tools for sale on the Internet.

The government relies on antibody tests for the Coronavirus to implement its strategy of gradually lifting the closure imposed to contain the spread of the virus, in light of growing public discontent and in light of the slow pace of the vaccination campaign.

And Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on Wednesday evening to gradually lift the restrictions imposed to contain Corona, about the dissatisfaction of public opinion and her government ministers 9 months before the date of the legislative elections, but no improvement has occurred in terms of containing the outbreak, which accelerates its pace in some days.

On Saturday, the country recorded 9,557 new cases of coronavirus and 300 deaths, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

This virus has caused the death of more than 2.5 million people in the world since the WHO office in China reported the outbreak of the disease at the end of December 2019, according to a census conducted by the French Press Agency based on official sources on Saturday.

More than 116 million 31,470 people have been confirmed infected with the virus since its emergence.

The vast majority of those infected recovered, although some continued to have symptoms after weeks or even months.

The United States is the country most affected by the epidemic, as it recorded 522,879 deaths, followed by Brazil (262,770 deaths), Mexico (189,578), India (157,656 deaths) and Britain (124,261 deaths).

Shocking numbers in Iraq and Palestine

In the Arab world, Iraqi Health Minister Hassan Al-Tamimi said Saturday that 20% of daily infections with the Corona virus in his country are "dangerous."

Al-Tamimi stated - in a statement to the official news agency (INA) - that during his tour of a number of main streets that are witnessing movement - he noticed a great laxity in the application of health measures, up to the refusal to wear a muzzle.

Over the past three days, the country recorded more than 5 thousand daily cases of corona, which are rates not seen for months.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Health recorded 11 deaths and about 4,068 cases of corona, in addition to the recovery of 3,883 patients.

In Palestine, the National Authority announced the closure of the city of Ramallah and its villages completely for a week, starting from Saturday evening, due to the accelerated spread of the Corona virus, hours after a similar decision in the city of Nablus.

A statement by the governorate of Ramallah and Al-Bireh (central West Bank) said that the closure of Ramallah includes all aspects of public life and various commercial activities, and that the movement of cars is strictly prohibited (...) for a whole week starting from Saturday evening, without specifying a specific hour.

According to the statement, grocery stores will be allowed to open their doors during the day, on Sunday and Thursday only, with the exception of bakeries and pharmacies from the closure.

For weeks, the Palestinian governorates have witnessed a remarkable acceleration in the number of people infected with the virus.

The Ministry of Health announced the registration of 19 deaths and 2011 cases of corona during the past 24 hours, including 334 injuries and 4 deaths in Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate.

In Tunisia, the health authorities announced a decrease in the number of infections and deaths caused by infection with the Coronavirus, which prompted them to ease the restrictions imposed, such as reducing curfew hours, and lifting the compulsory quarantine of arrivals from abroad.

These measures did not prevent the continuing controversy over the late arrival of the first batch of vaccines that were scheduled to arrive in February.

European demonstrations against the restrictions

In Europe, several hundreds of people gathered in the Austrian capital Vienna this afternoon to demonstrate against measures aimed at curbing the spread of the Corona virus, as buses carrying demonstrators arrived from outside the capital, according to media reports.

The "ABA" news agency reported that some people carried signs that read "Curtis must leave", referring to Counselor Sebastian Curtis.

According to the agency, police tracked whether participants were complying with health regulations, including social distancing and wearing masks.

In Sweden, the capital, Stockholm, witnessed demonstrations on Saturday, rejecting the measures taken by the government to prevent the Corona virus.

Hundreds of people gathered in the Medpargaryplatsen area, chanting slogans calling on the government to lift all health restrictions imposed on citizens.

The demonstrators, who belong to a group calling itself "the Millennium", indicated that the government endangered the lives of the people, because it allowed human trials with unreliable vaccines.

The authorities arrested 15 protesters, after quarrels with the police, according to local media.

The number of Corona injuries in Sweden reached 684,961, including 13,000 deaths, according to the World Meter website.

Nigeria .. Presidential campaign to support vaccine

Africa, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari received the first dose of the Corona vaccine today, as part of a campaign to increase public confidence in vaccines in the country that is trying to vaccinate 80 million of its population this year.

Vaccination of Nigeria's 200 million people, and other residents of developing countries, is essential to limit the spread of the Coronavirus, but the distribution of doses in this large country, where roads are in poor condition and the law is non-existent in parts of the country, represents a huge challenge.

There are no airports in all of Nigeria's states, rail networks are limited, and authorities must also overcome mistrust of vaccines.

"In order to demonstrate leadership and belief in the safety and efficacy of vaccines, I received my first dose and I want to recommend it to all qualified Nigerians to receive it to do the same in order to protect us from the virus," Bukhari said.

"The vaccine raises hope that our country is safe and free from Corona virus," the 78-year-old president added, after receiving the dose during a live broadcast on television.