Provincial governments across China are placing orders for experimental, domestically made Covid-19 vaccines, as developers ramp up final testing, the Chinese foreign minister said during a U.N. meeting last week.

This comes as Britain recently approved emergency use of the Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine candidate, although Chinese health officials have yet to say how well the vaccines work or how they will be distributed to the country’s 1.4 billion people.

Meanwhile, Pfizer Inc. has applied for emergency use authorization of its vaccine in India, local media reported on Sunday according to Reuters. India has the world’s second-highest number of infections, behind only the United States.

SEOUL — South Korea on Sunday reported 631 new coronavirus cases, the highest in nine months, ahead of an expected government decision on whether to further tighten social distancing curbs as health authorities struggle to contain a third wave of outbreaks.

After implementing tighter restrictions on Saturday, the government is to decide on Sunday whether to impose new measures in a country that had seen initial success through aggressive contact tracing and other steps.

The new cases bring the country's tally to 37,546, with 545 deaths, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported.

Many of the recent cases have been centered in the capital city of Seoul, which on Saturday launched unprecedented curfews, shuttering most establishments and shops at 9 p.m. for two weeks and cutting back public transportation operations by 30 percent in the evenings.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Only a few dozen people attended the lighting of the Christmas tree in the biblical city of Bethlehem on Saturday night, as coronavirus restrictions scaled back the annual event that is normally attended by thousands.

A small group of residents and religious leaders participated in the tree-lighting ceremony at Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, where Christians believe Jesus was born. Others watched it virtually due to restrictions prompted by the virus pandemic.

Bethlehem Mayor Anton Salman said Christmas is being observed this year in ways like no time before.

“We resorted to modern technology and to the virtual world to celebrate the lighting of the Christmas tree, wishing hope and optimism would flutter upon Palestine and the world,” Salman said.

Thousands of pilgrims and tourists typically visit Bethlehem, fill hotels and dine at restaurants during the Christmas season, bringing the area a much-needed injection of cash.

The sheriff in Orange County, California, said Saturday that his deputies would not enforce stricter stay-at-home rules scheduled to go into effect across Southern California Sunday night.

Sheriff Don Barnes said in a statement that his pandemic policy has been "consistent."

"Compliance with health orders is a matter of personal responsibility and not a matter of law enforcement," he said. "Orange County Sheriff's deputies will not be dispatched to, or respond to, calls for service to enforce compliance with face coverings, social gatherings, or stay-at-home orders only."

On Saturday. California health officials announced that stricter stay-at-home measures for regions including the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California would be imposed at 11:59 p.m. Sunday. The measures include the closure of hair and nail salons, a ban on eatery dining, even outdoors, and 20 percent capacity for essential retailers.

Barnes isn't the only sheriff who has bristled at the new rules. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a video address Friday that while his deputies would "expect" residents to follow the regulations, "These closures and stay-at-home orders are flat out ridiculous."

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore has assigned four teams, each composed of two deputies, to accompany health inspectors as they deliver cease-and-desist orders to noncompliant businesses.