Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 2.049 million, over 95.9 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 20:10 GMT Tuesday, the number of cases globally is 95,914,178, including 2,049,813 fatalities.

The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 24,163,707, including 400,022 fatalities.

Phase I and II clinical trials of Russian coronavirus vaccine EpiVacCorona show that its immunological efficacy amounts to 100 percent, consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.

Around 200,000 Moscow residents have already received the first dose of the vaccine against the coronavirus, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Former Swiss Ambassador in Moscow Yves Rossier was inoculated against COVID-19 with Sputnik V shortly before leaving Russia, a representative of Switzerland's embassy in Moscow told Sputnik.

Serbia expects to receive 250,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus on Tuesday or Wednesday, President Aleksandar Vucic said.

Mexico plans to administer 7.4 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 by March following the start of regular deliveries later this month, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said.

Nicaragua has started discussing technical aspects of supplying the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to the country, Russian Trade Representative in Nicaragua Petr Pankratov told Sputnik.

Iran has held talks with Russia, China and India on the potential procurement of the vaccines against the coronavirus, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said.

India will start to supply its COVID-19 vaccines to the neighboring countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar and Seychelles starting Wednesday to contribute to the global fight against the coronavirus, the Indian Foreign Ministry said.

No side effects were detected during the clinical trials of Iranian coronavirus vaccine Covo-Iran, Mohammad Mokhber, the president of Execution of Imam Khomeini's Orders (EIKO), which is the parent company of the vaccine's developer Barakat, said.

The Iraqi authorities have approved the coronavirus vaccines by UK-Swedish company AstraZeneca and China's Sinopharm for emergency use, the Iraqi Ministry of Health said.

A 108-year-old Italian woman has become one of the oldest people in the world to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, months after surviving the infection, according to media reports, citing the retirement house she lives in.

A total of 95 percent of the produced vaccines against the coronavirus were purchased by only 10 countries, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said, raising concerns about how to ensure access to vaccination in poor countries.

Like any medication, vaccines can cause side effects and reaction, which is the body's natural response, Ancha Baranova, a professor at George Mason University's school of Systems Biology, told Sputnik, adding that the immunization against COVID-19 must be carried on despite the reported side effects, which represent a small share of the population.

Canada will not receive any new shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine next week, the country's vaccine distribution czar, Maj. Gen. Dany Fortin, said.

Russia is ready to register a new test that can determine presence of the new UK strain of the coronavirus, Anna Popova, the head of Russia's consumer health watchdog, said.

The Russian government will allocate a further 2.7 billion rubles ($36.6 million) to procure coronavirus medicines for those on outpatient treatment, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said.

Russia registered 21,734 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 22,857 the day before, taking the tally to 3,612,800, the coronavirus response center said.

The Lebanese Health Ministry has announced that 53 coronavirus-related deaths have occurred over the past 24 hours, which is the highest number of fatalities registered in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic.

US President Donald Trump lifted COVID-19 restrictions on travel to the United States from the Schengen Area, the UK, Ireland and Brazil.

The Greek government has no immediate plans to ease restrictions on businesses amid an increase in the number of people infected with the coronavirus, local media said.

Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani announced a two-week extension of the coronavirus-related curfew beginning at 9 p.m. (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

South Korea has extended the suspension of flights with the UK until January 28 to prevent the spread of the mutated strain of coronavirus, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The mayor of Colombia's capital of Bogota announced that a strict quarantine would be introduced in the city from January 22-25, with a general night curfew starting on Tuesday and set to last through January 28.

The reopening of Australia's international borders will be one of the "last things" to happen even when the country launches a mass vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus, Australian Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said.

New car sales within the European Union dropped by 23.7 percent to 9.9 million in 2020 due to the coronavirus-related crisis compared to the previous year, marking the biggest yearly decline in car demand so far, the European automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said.

Disneyland Paris decided to prolong its closure until at least April, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to actively circulate, reordering and constraining social life in the country.

Nearly three-fourths of Democrats in the US view the coronavirus pandemic out of control with an equal portion of Republicans saying the opposite - reflecting a partisan divide that extends to a willingness to be vaccinated, a fresh ABC/Langer Research poll revealed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and China were too slow in their reaction to the emerging coronavirus pandemic, the Geneva-based Independent Panel for Pandemic Readiness and Response said.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that it supported an initiative to implement a single digital vaccine passport across Europe.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called on the UK government to immediately take actions to support the country's businesses amid a new coronavirus-related lockdown, saying that companies cannot wait until London approves a new budget in March to learn if they will receive aid.

The German authorities may make wearing FFP2 face masks, which filter over 90 percent of airborne particles, mandatory when out in public in a bid to contain the spread of the new coronavirus and its mutations, the Bild newspaper reported.

Standards for protective masks against COVID-19 in France remain the same on the current stage of the pandemic in the country, Health Minister Olivier Veran said.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan is planning to create a center designed to examine and monitor health indicators of people arriving from countries that have registered new strains of the coronavirus, NHK World-Japan reported on Tuesday, citing Health Minister Tamura Norihisa.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam called for calm after COVID-19 cases jumped to triple digits, vowing to increase mandatory testing in the city's hardest-hit districts.

All Indian lawmakers are asked to take COVID-19 tests as the legislature is set to gather in late January for its first session since September, lower house speaker Om Birla said.