MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st December, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 1.799 million, over 82.4 million cases of infection were detected, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from federal and local authorities, media and other sources.
As of 20:00 GMT Wednesday, the number of cases globally is 82,414,714, including 1,799,099 fatalities.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 19,615,360, including 340,586 fatalities.
Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of Chinese doctor Li Wenliang first warning the world about seven patients being infected by a virus, which turned out to be the new coronavirus that triggered the global pandemic.
At 5:43 p.m. (09:43 GMT) on December 30 last year, Li shared a picture of the lab results of a patient who was confirmed to be infected by a coronavirus, similar to the one that caused the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in China in 2003, in a social media group chat for doctors in Wuhan.
Russia's Gamaleya Center plans to submit documents for testing its Sputnik V vaccine on children and pregnant women in 1-1.5 months, the head of the center, Alexander Gintsburg, told Sputnik.
Russia and Bolivia signed a contract to supply 5.2 million doses of Russian vaccine Sputnik V to Bolivia, the ceremony was broadcast on Facebook by President Luis Arce.
The developer of the world's first registered coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, praised the UK's approval of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University shot, saying their strength was in unity.
The West African nation of Guinea received a batch of 60 Sputnik V vaccines against the coronavirus on an experimental basis, media reported.
The United Kingdom, through its order of 100 million doses of a vaccine against COVID-19 produced by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, as well as supplies of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine, has enough doses to vaccinate every single adult in the country, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
Only two people have been administered to hospital with COVID-19 complications after taking part in the clinical trials of a candidate vaccine against the disease produced by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, Jonathan Van-Tam, the UK's deputy chief medical officer, said citing preliminary data.
A 91-year-old patient died at a care home in the central Swiss canton of Lucerne several days after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech companies, Switzerland's medical regulator Swissmedic said, adding that no link between the death and the vaccination was established.
Russia's Gamaleya Center is testing an antibodies-based drug for treatment of the coronavirus on experimental animals, the head of the center, Alexander Gintsburg, told Sputnik.
Russia's Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) said it had received permission from the country's health ministry to conduct clinical trials of a drug against COVID-19, volunteers are being recruited.
Russia has registered 26,513 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 27,002 the day before, bringing the total to 3,131,550, the federal response center said.
The United States this week reported more than 3,700 coronavirus-related deaths in a single day, representing a new daily record since the beginning of the pandemic, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University revealed.
The United Kingdom is at a "critical moment" in the fight against COVID-19 as the single-day rise to the country's death toll neared 1,000 on Wednesday, the largest increase since April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
The Czech Republic has confirmed 16,329 new coronavirus disease cases, hitting a new single-day record, the health ministry said.
Three quarters of English residents will be subject to the country's strictest "tier 4" COVID-19 social distancing measures from Thursday, as the government seeks to halt the spread of a new strain of coronavirus that is believed to be more transmissible, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged the country's population to conduct their New Year celebrations "safely at home" amid a rapid rise in new COVID-19 cases linked to a new variant of coronavirus.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn called for further extension of coronavirus-related restrictions in the country beyond the current deadline which is set for January 10.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran rejected the idea of a new quarantine countrywide or in some regions, but supported the extension of curfew in areas where it would be necessary.
Primary school students in Poland might be able to return to in-person learning on January 18 if the authorities deem the coronavirus dynamic during the winter break satisfactory, Polish Health Ministry spokesperson Wojciech Andrusiewicz said.
Norway's authorities decided to extend air traffic suspension with the United Kingdom until at least January 2 due to risks associated with the discovery of a new coronavirus strain, the country's health ministry said.
India has decided to extend the suspension of air traffic with the United Kingdom until January 7 due to risks associated with the discovery of a new coronavirus strain, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
All football matches of the English Premier League will be played behind closed doors after the UK Health Ministry decided to move the city of Liverpool to "tier 3" COVID-19 social distancing measures from Thursday, the Sky sports broadcaster reported.
Tottenham Hotspur's match against London rivals Fulham became the third game to be postponed this season, after a significant uptick in positive COVID-19 cases at the Fulham club, the English Premier League board, which administers football games in England's top flight, said.
