MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 1.14 million, almost 42 million cases of infection were detected, and over 28.4 million of those patients were cured, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from Federal and local authorities, media and other sources.
As of 19:30 GMT Friday, the number of cases globally is 41,992,358, including 1,140,593 fatalities.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 8,445,242, including 223.437 fatalities and 3,353,056 recoveries.
Former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica told Sputnik he was not surprised with Russia's progress in the development of vaccines against COVID-19 and also expressed hope for scaled-up production of efficient vaccines.
Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief scientist, said that "a couple more" COVID-19 vaccine candidates likely to move from phase 2 to phase 3 trials in next month or two.
The US food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the antiviral drug remdesivir as the first COVID-19 treatment without having taken into consideration the results of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Solidarity Trial, Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO's chief scientist, said.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), warned on Friday that the global epidemiological situation would be critical in the coming months.
Many European cities may run out of available intensive care units (ICUs) as the number of coronavirus patients needing intensive care is on the rise, Maria Van Kerkhove, the head of the emerging diseases unit of the World Health Organization (WHO), said. WHO chief Tedros also said that, according to expert estimates, some of the poorest countries have only between 5 and 20 percent of the oxygen they need or patient care amid the coronavirus pandemic that often causes lung conditions in people.
Russia has registered a new record single-day rise of 17,340 COVID-19 cases, up from 15,971 yesterday, taking the cumulative total to 1,480,646, the country's coronavirus response center said.
Germany has confirmed more than 11,000 new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row, with the total count reaching 403,291, the Robert Koch Institute said.
France will continue with the pandemic ordeal in the coming months, but expects difficult times in the coming months as winter is more conducive to the spread of COVID-19, French epidemiologist and member of the national Scientific Council Arnaud Fontanet told the BFMTV broadcaster.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on regional authorities to make decisions on coronavirus restrictions that would be based on the situation on the ground, and to act cautiously.
The Belgian authorities decided to extend a list of restrictions for the sectors of sports, education and culture in a bid to avoid nationwide lockdown similar to the one in March, in the wake of the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced.
The entire Polish territory will be classified as a coronavirus "red zone" with tougher restrictions starting Saturday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said amid a surge in new cases.
Mexico's Chihuahua state will return to the red level of emergency due to over 15,000 new COVID-19 cases and impose restrictive measures, the state's governor, Javier Corral Jurado, said.
The Russian economy has not begun sustainable and long-term growth yet, President Vladimir Putin said, noting that some areas of the economy were already overcoming the consequences of the pandemic.
The poorest countries will pay the cost of the coronavirus pandemic, with the problems that they are already facing only set to aggravate, former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica said in an interview with Sputnik.
The novel coronavirus-induced travel restrictions are expected to cost the Canadian economy up to $28 billion in damages and 500,000 jobs, the country's statistics agency said.
More than 60 percent of EU citizens trust the European Union to make the right decisions in the future to fight the coronavirus pandemic, a fresh Eurobarometer poll showed, adding that 60 percent of Europeans felt optimistic about the bloc's future.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has good progress with Chinese authorities on formation of an international team to investigate the origin of COVID-19, and expects a virtual meeting later this month, Michael J. Ryan, the executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said.
France will have to spend around two billion Euros (over $2.3 billion) to cover the expenses incurred during implementation of curfew across France in a bid to curb the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the Europe 1 broadcaster.
People in England and Wales who are advised to self-isolate by the government's contact-tracing mobile app because they have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for the COVID-19 cannot claim financial support because of a flaw in the app, Sky news broadcaster reported.
