Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th July, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 4.193 million, over 196.3 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 20:00 GMT Thursday, the number of cases globally is 196,377,558, including 4,193,942 fatalities. As many as 4 billion of vaccine doses have been administered to date.

Palestine may greenlight the use of the Russian-made CoviVac and EpiVacCorona vaccines after approving Sputnik V and single-dose Sputnik Light, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told Sputnik.

Argentina received 500 liters (132 gallons) of active substance for the production of the second component of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the Argentine Richmond Laboratory said on Twitter.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the option of making vaccination mandatory for teachers was being discussed but eventually discarded as not being the best solution, the Ekathimerini newspaper reported.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca increased its revenue by 23% to $15.54 billion in the first half of the year, of which $1.2 billion were obtained from the sale of their COVID-19 vaccine, the company said.

The representatives of the Japanese Medical Association issued an urgent appeal to the central government to ensure regions are adequately supplied with coronavirus vaccines amid a sharp increase in the number of new infections.

The total cost of COVID-19 vaccination could have been five times less if the major pharmaceutical companies weren't taking advantage of their monopoly on COVID-19 vaccines, according to the People's Vaccine Alliance.

Russia registered 23,270 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, up from 22,420 the day before, taking the overall tally to 6,218,502, the federal response center said.

The forth wave of COVID-19 began in Italy, where the deaths rose by 46% in the course of one week, the Gimbe health foundation said.

Almost 67 percent of counties in the United States have between substantial and high coronavirus transmission rates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cautioned a day after re-introducing its masking recommendation in high-risk areas as well as in schools.

The Pentagon is mandating that all staff and visitors wear face masks at Department of Defense facilities in accordance with updated US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance, spokesperson Jamal Brown said.

The US national capital city is re-imposing its mask mandate beginning July 31 due to the new spike in COVID-19 cases, Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters.

Providing a negative PCR test or a document proving immunity against COVID-19 will be obligatory for those who arrive in Germany regardless of a country of departure or means of travel, Der Spiegel reported, citing a draft order by the German Health Ministry.

French Minister of State for European Affairs Clement Beaune said that the United Kingdom's decision not to exempt French citizens from obligatory quarantine upon arrival was discriminatory.

The cancellation of the mandatory wearing of face masks in Ukraine is possible, but only after most of the population is vaccinated against coronavirus, the country's chief sanitary doctor, Igor Kuzin, told the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper.

The number of Americans choosing to homeschool their children is rapidly increasing and up to 15 million children are currently homeschooled in the United States, Home school Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) senior counsel Michael Donnelly told Sputnik.

Approval of US society's treatment of Asians fell to a record low amid series of violent, pandemic-related attacks on Asian-Americans in recent months, a new Gallup poll revealed.

President Joe Biden has asked Congress to extend the moratorium on evictions that was put in place due to the coronavirus outbreak, saying many renters still faced financial difficulties and those driven from their homes could face heightened risk from infection, the White House said.

Acting Bulgarian Health Minister Stoycho Katsarov said that mistakes in the vaccination campaign of the former government had resulted in the deaths of 10,000 people in the coutnry.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly slowed down the process of the socio-economic integration of the Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the neighboring South American states, the United Nation's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

Switzerland sent 26 tonnes of medical aid to Thailand amid the country's difficult coronavirus situation, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said.