Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st February, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection across the world topped 2.222 million as of Sunday, while over 102.6 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.

The United States still has the highest case count in the world � 26,007,663 infections, including 439,587 fatalities.

Moldova will receive the first shipments of the vaccines against the coronavirus disease � 24,570 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, as well as 264,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine � in mid-February, according to the country's health ministry.

Bolivia expects to get nearly one million doses of coronavirus vaccines next month through eh World Health Organization's COVAX mechanism, Bolivian President Luis Arce has announced.

The Pentagon says it is halting its planned vaccination of Guantanamo Bay prisoners against the coronavirus for now to move forward, as it reviews force protection protocols.

About 500,000 people have signed up for vaccination against coronavirus in Moscow, while more than 300,000 have already received the vaccine, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

The Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) on Sunday approved the emergency use of the vaccine against the coronavirus developed by the UK-Swedish AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company along with Oxford University.

Israel has approved the allocation of 5,000 doses of the vaccine against the coronavirus to Palestine, a spokesperson for Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told Sputnik. According to Ynet, Pfizer vaccines for 2,500 health workers will be delivered to Ramallah at the beginning of the upcoming week.

The UAE emirate of Dubai on Sunday announced creating a "logistics alliance" to speed up supplies of two billion doses of the vaccine against the coronavirus disease via the World Health Organisation's� COVAX initiative.

Columbia has detected its first case of the Brazilian strain of the novel coronavirus in a 24-year-old woman from Tabatinga, according to the country's health ministry. The patient was in isolation at home and has already recovered.

Japan's Ministry of Health has registered five new cases of the UK coronavirus variant, three of them reported among residents of Saitama Prefecture, The Nikkei reports.

Cuba will isolate foreign tourists at designated hotels for five days upon their arrival and limit the number of inbound flights to the Caribbean island starting February 6, after seeing a coronavirus infections spike, media reported. There will be fewer flights from the United States, Mexico, Panama, Dominica, Jamaica, Colombia, and the Bahamas starting next weekend.

The new administration of US President Joe Biden still hopes to reopen schools across the country for in-person learning by April, even in the face of new variants of COVID-19 detected in the US, Cedric Richmond, the senior presidential advisor, told the CBS broadcaster on Sunday.

According to the official, the key to implementing the plan is providing the school systems and local municipalities the ability to open schools safely, including funding for masks and other personal protective equipment.

The vaccination site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles � one of the largest vaccination sites in the US � was briefly shut down amid a protest against the coronavirus vaccination campaign and other measures aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19, The Los Angeles Times reports. The stadium was shut down for about one hour on Saturday afternoon, stalling hundreds of cars with people waiting to get their shots for hours.

An unauthorized protest against tougher measures to combat coronavirus was suppressed by police on Sunday in the center of Brussels, a Sputnik correspondent reported. The demonstrators were chanting slogans against what they believe to be very excessive bans imposed by the Belgian government, which "violate the rights and freedoms of citizens."

UK TIPS FOR FLOUTING VIRUS CURBS ON BUSINESS

�An anti-lockdown movement in the United Kingdom has been circulating tips on how to sidestep restrictions on business, in a bid to kick-start a "Great Reopening" over the weekend.

A freelance journalist told Sputnik that guidelines on ways to exploit loopholes in coronavirus curbs were being shared in great secrecy on Telegram, where groups opposing the shutdown have been proliferating after the country went into a third national lockdown on January 5.

The guide seen by Sputnik advises salons, tattoo parlors, gyms and clothing stores to disguise themselves as film or podcast studios, complete with tripods, microphones and other equipment, while masquerading their clients as actors and show guests. The journalist said that threats were made against those who infiltrated chatrooms to publicize these plans, including warnings that activists would come after anyone personally.