11,447 deaths recorded globally in 24 hours; global total cases rise by record of nearly 700,000; US added 102,000 cases on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins
- UK chancellor extends furlough scheme until early 2021
- Exclusive: UK rapid mass tests miss over 50% of cases in pilot
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Billions of pounds worth of trade with the European Union will face “significant disruption” on 1 January, regardless of whether a trade deal is agreed, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has concluded.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said crucial IT systems have yet to be tested and transit areas for lorries are not ready as the government attempts to prepare new border controls for the end of the Brexit transition period. The planned controls, which had already been rated “high risk”, have been further hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released today:
Related: UK-EU trade faces major disruption even with deal, say auditors
It looks Thursday will again see the US break the global record for daily coronavirus cases – for the third time in eight days – with a possible 116,000 new cases reported in 24 hours (beating its own previous record by 14,000 cases).
This is from the Covid-tracking project – the Guardian relies on Johns Hopkins University, which updates a little later, so we’ll have confirmation then. But the two trackers are usually fairly aligned.
Our daily update is published. States reported record numbers of tests (1.5 million) and cases (116k). Hospitalizations continue their sharp rise. The death toll was 1,124. pic.twitter.com/z3gxwP6EaC
