MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th May, 2021) The COVID-19 death toll has topped 3.21 million globally as of Tuesday, with over 153 million cumulative cases now confirmed, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from various national authorities, media and other sources.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world � over 32 million infections, including more than 577,000 fatalities.
Poland detected two COVID-19 clusters linked to the Indian mutant strain in Warsaw and Katowice, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said.
India diagnosed eight out of 12 lions with COVID-19 at the Nehru Zoological Park, which is the first such case in the country.
Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Security Council Chairman Armen Grigoryan got shots of Russian vaccine Sputnik V.
Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has recommended using the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine to immunize people aged 30 and older.
Mexico began vaccinating people aged 50 and older.
North Korea's state-run media Rodong Sinmun told citizens that vaccines were no "panacea" and had numerous life-threatening side effects after the country did not receive a shipment of 1.7 million AstraZeneca doses through COVAX due to vaccine shortage.
EU vaccination certificates will enter into force in all member states in mid-June, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said.
The US might have to increase interest rates to prevent the economy from "overheating," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at between zero and 0.25% since March 2020 to aid recovery from COVID-19.
Catalonia will lift the curfew and reopen borders on May 9, the Spanish autonomous region's acting president, Pere Aragones, said.
Bavaria will lift the curfew and social contact restrictions for fully vaccinated and recovered people starting from May 6, the German state's minister-president, Markus Soeder, said.
Madrid regional elections were held with strict COVID-19 restrictions.
Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek refuted media reports on his alleged plans to go to Russia in order to "barter" the Vrbetice scandal for Prague's bid to host top-level Russia-US talks and supplies of Russian vaccine Sputnik V to the Czech Republic.
Turkey will further tighten lockdown measures on Friday, restricting commercial activity to sales of staple foods and personal hygiene products, the interior ministry said.
India's opposition Indian National Congress party urged the government to impose a total lockdown.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed anti-lockdown protesters for prolonging the duration of the restrictive public health measures and the coronavirus pandemic itself.
Hungary told the International Tennis Federation it would not be able to host the Billie Jean King Cup Finals due to public health concerns. The tennis tournament has already been postponed twice due to COVID-19.
Iraq will impose a quarantine involving a total ban on movements from May 12-22, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said.
