People wearing a face mask do some window shopping on Piazza di Spagna in central Rome on December 13, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: AFP)

The total number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has increased to 1,611,401 with the global confirmed cases reaching 72,168,829 as of 9 am BJT on Monday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Current status (data as of 9 am BJT, Dec 14):

Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Robert Redfield said on Sunday he has signed the recommendation of a key CDC advisory group to use the COVID-19 vaccine of American drugmaker Pfizer in partnership with German company BioNTech.

Italy overtook the UK as the European country with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths, adding to pressure on Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's government as it seeks to prevent a flare-up of the contagion during the holiday season.

Germany will go into a partial lockdown from Wednesday with non-essential shops and schools to close in a bid to halt an "exponential growth" in coronavirus infections.

Another 11,533 people in France tested positive for COVID-19 in a 24-hour span, the lowest daily tally this week, while more patients were admitted to hospital, ending a week-long decline in coronavirus-related hospitalization, official data showed on Sunday.

The number of daily COVID-19 infections in the Netherlands increased by nearly 10,000 in the past 24 hours, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on Sunday.