Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 3.348 million, over 161.3 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 20:30 GMT Friday, the number of cases globally is 161,377,908, including 3,348,818 fatalities.

The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 32,882,780, including 585,064 fatalities.

Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health has received approval from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for the shipment of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the Latin American country's foreign ministry said.

Indian drug manufacturer Dr. Reddy's announced that the first dose of Russian vaccine Sputnik V had been administered in the southern city of Hyderabad.

Canadian health official are still probing the shipment of vaccine doses produced by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals amid a US investigation into quality control issues at a vaccine manufacturing plant in the US state of Maryland, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo said.

Canada is set to receive 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines the week of May 16, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said.

The UK COVID-19 vaccination campaign could be sped up to immunize people over 18 years old in regions of England where a spike of the coronavirus variant first identified in India has been recently reported, Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that there was no evidence that the country's COVID-19 vaccines were less effective against severe illnesses from the Indian coronavirus variant.

Lithuania will donate 200,000 doses of AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria coronavirus vaccine to Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis announced, urging other EU nations to follow suit.

Local companies in Uruguay began to reward citizens of the country who have got or are going to get coronavirus vaccine shots in different ways � from a free lunch to gym membership.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom urged rich countries on Friday to donate coronavirus vaccines to the COVAX vaccine distribution mechanism instead of inoculating children and teenagers.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expects the second year of the coronavirus pandemic to be "far more deadly" than the first one.

Russia registered 9,462 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, up from 8,380 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,922,901, the coronavirus response center said.

India has confirmed 343,144 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, with the total number of those infected having reached 24,046,809, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Russia resumes flights with Iceland, Malta, Mexico, Portugal and Saudi Arabia from May 25, the federal coronavirus response center told reporters.

The French government added Bahrain, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Uruguay to the list of countries with high coronavirus risks, obligating arrivals to undergo a compulsory 10-day quarantine.

Slovakia will lift the state of emergency brought on by the coronavirus pandemic � which has been in effect since last fall � at midnight on Saturday, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said.

Turkey will considerably loosen coronavirus restrictions in June, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

The Japanese government expanded the coronavirus-related state of emergency to three more prefectures � Hokkaido, Hiroshima and Okayama � ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, the Kyodo news agency reported, citing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Terrorism Advisory System issued a bulletin that indicated a heightened threat environment due to the potential for violent extremists to exploit the lifting of COVID-19-related restrictions.

Russia provides assistance to India in its fight against the coronavirus, the countries maintain close contact due to their allied relations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured.