Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday she had tested positive for Covid-19 but was feeling well and had not developed symptoms of the disease, Reuters reports.
"I will continue to work and coordinate all activities from a distance, with the same commitment as usual," she said on Twitter, where she announced her positive test.
Europe faces discontent as curbs are tightened
European governments prepared on Tuesday to introduce new restrictions to try to curb a growing surge of coronavirus infections and provide economic balm to help businesses survive the pandemic, Reuters reports.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets across Italy on Monday to vent their anger at the latest round of restrictions, including early closing for bars and restaurants, with demonstrations in some cities turning violent.
In the financial capital Milan, youths hurled petrol bombs at police, who responded with volleys of tear gas. In nearby Turin, luxury shops had their windows smashed and some were ransacked, leading to the arrest of 10 rioters.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was expected to approve measures to help companies hit by the new curbs introduced at the weekend after daily infections increased eight-fold in less than a month.
In France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin warned the country to prepare for "difficult decisions" after some of the strictest restrictions currently in place anywhere in Europe have failed to halt the spread of the disease.
There have been at least 8.54 million reported infections and 251 000 deaths caused by coronavirus in Europe so far, according to latest Reuters data.
Poland reports record rise in daily coronavirus cases
Reuters reports that Poland reported 16 300 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, a daily record, as Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned that people attending mass protests over abortion rights were disregarding "massive" infection risks.
Poland has seen five days of widespread protests following a ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal last Thursday that amounts to a near-total ban on abortion in the predominantly Catholic nation.
Iran's virus deaths exceed 33 000 with new records
AFP reports that Iran's official Covid-19 fatalities crossed the 33 000 mark on Tuesday, the health ministry said, as the country set new records in both daily deaths and infection cases.
Health ministry spokesperson Sima Sadat Lari said Iran had registered 346 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 33 299.
The previous record of 337 deaths was reached last week, and was matched again on Monday.
Lari said 6 968 people tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, almost 800 more than the previous record set two days before.
The new infections bring officially reported Covid-19 cases in the Middle East's worst-hit country to 581 824.
Deaths and infections from the novel coronavirus have been on a rising trajectory in the Islamic republic, which has recorded several new highs since September.
Russia orders wider use of face masks, recommends bar closures as infections rise
Reuters reports that Russia on Tuesday ordered people across the country to wear face masks in some public places and asked regional authorities to consider an overnight curfew on bars and restaurants after a surge in coronavirus cases.
The consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor told regional authorities to make masks mandatory in parking lots, elevators, taxis, public transport and crowded public places. Some cities, including the capital Moscow, have already made masks mandatory on public transport.
It also suggested closing bars, restaurants and late-night entertainment facilities between 23:00 and 06:00.
The authorities in Moscow rejected closing restaurants and bars given that they already use a QR-code system to register the people attending late-night entertainment venues.
Russia, which recorded 16 550 infections on Tuesday, has seen a surge in new cases in recent weeks, prompting the authorities to open temporary hospitals and urge the population to take precautionary measures.
Germany warns of 20 000 new daily Covid-19 cases within days
Reuters reports that the number of new Covid-19 infections in Germany is likely to reach 20 000 a day by the end of the week, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Tuesday, as authorities readied new curbs to break the second wave of the pandemic.
Germany, widely praised for its initial response to the crisis, is contending with a faster upswing in cases than expected, prompting Chancellor Angela Merkel to bring forward to Wednesday talks with state leaders on additional curbs.
"We are dealing with exponential growth," Altmaier said. "In Germany the number of new infections is rising by 70-75% compared to the week before."
Merkel said at the end of September there could be 19 200 coronavirus cases per day by Christmas, which was considered a pessimistic scenario at the time. On Tuesday, the number of cases rose by 11 409. That compares with 6 868 cases a week ago and with the daily record 14 714 reported on Saturday.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the increase in new infections was "very worrying," and authorities had to quickly implement "targeted, temporary and focused" measures as uniformly across Germany as possible.