Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th August, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 4.242 million, over 199.3 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 20:10 GMT Tuesday, the number of cases globally is 199,304,876, including 4,242,337 fatalities. As many as 4.18 billion of vaccine doses have been administered to date.

The European Commission has recognized COVID-19 vaccine certificates issued in San Mario, which has approved the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said.

The European Commission's recognition of COVID-19 certificates issued in San Marino does not equate to authorization of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, which has been used by the European microstate, a spokesperson for the National Institute of Health (ISS) told Sputnik.

The European Union is striving for a steady supply of COVID-19 vaccines to its members and price is but one issue in negotiations with pharmaceutical companies, European Commission spokeswoman Vivian Loonela said.

The COVID-19 vaccination rate in Greece has dropped significantly as the August holiday season begins, Greek newspaper Ekathimerini reported.

After reports of breakthrough infections among those who had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 renewed concerns over the efficacy of existing vaccines, public health experts told Sputnik that the vaccines' success in preventing severe illnesses and deaths could help defang the coronavirus and make it as benign as a common cold.

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday will deliver remarks around the delivery of 110 million COVID-19 vaccines to over 60 countries with another half a billion Pfizer jabs are set to begin shipping at the end of August, the White House said.

Argentina begins vaccination against COVID-19 for teenagers aged 12-17, the country's health ministry said.

Russia registered 22,010 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 23,508 the day before, taking the overall tally to 6,334,195, the federal response center said.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States has increased by more than 25 percent over the previous seven-day period, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said.

Only fully vaccinated Hongkongers will be allowed to board flights from Russia starting August 9, the Russian Consulate General in Hong Kong said.

The CDC issued an advisory placing Greece, Ireland, Iran, Kazakhstan and the US Virgin Islands placing them in the category of highest risk for COVID-19 and advising Americans not to travel there.

A majority of US parents of schoolgoing children this fall want all teachers and students to wear facemasks if they remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, while less than half favor a vaccine mandate for their children to return to classrooms, according to a Gallup poll.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved legislative amendments allowing employers to suspend workers who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

A senior editor with The New York Times (NYT) has instructed the newspaper's staffers not to investigate the origins of the coronavirus, The Spectator magazine reported, citing two NYT employees.

Domestic and international airlines suffered the worst year on record in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic slashed passenger traffic by more than 60 percent and global carriers lost more than $125 billion, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a report.

The Japanese government is planning to toughen requirements for hospitalization of COVID-19 patients, taking to hospitals only those who are seriously ill or at risk of becoming so, Japanese Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it had extended the Trump-era policy authorizing immigration enforcement to immediately turn away undocumented migrants on the United States' borders as part of an effort to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The European Commission paid out the first 3 billion Euros ($3.5 billion) to Luxembourg, Belgium and Portugal on Tuesday from the EU-wide fund allocated to support member states during the coronavirus crisis.

The authorities in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the world's first COVID-19 hotbed, have decided to test the city's entire population of 11 million for the virus after several new cases were detected in the city, the local government said.

South Korea has allocated 562.9 billion won ($488.7 million) from the defense budget to fund an extra budget to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the country's defense ministry.