MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2021) The COVID-19-related death toll in the world topped 4.291 million, over 202.4 million cases of infection were detected, based on the data from Federal and local authorities, media and other sources compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.
On Sunday evening, the number of cases globally was registered at 202,490,807, including 4,291,920 fatalities. As many as 4.337 billion vaccine doses have been administered to date.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi received the first dose of the Iranian-produced COVID-19 vaccine, the COVIran Barekat, according to the state media.
German states are considering sending at least 2.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses back to the federal government for further redistribution to countries that experience supply shortage due to declining demand for vaccination in Germany.
India has approved the single-dose COVID-19 vaccine produced by the Johnson & Johnson company for emergency use on Saturday, extending the list of approved drugs to five.
Over 420,000 Israeli citizens over the age of 60 received their third COVID-19 vaccine shot in the first week of the re-vaccination campaign amid the rise of the Delta variant infections.
Thai protesters, who have gathered on the streets of Bangkok over the weekend, accused the military-backed government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of mishandling the pandemic response and demanded the relocation of budget funds towards purchasing mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, amid a record COVID-19 surge.
Saudi Arabia decided to lift the ban on foreign Umrah pilgrims and will begin receiving requests from those willing to make the pilgrimage starting August 9, 1.5 years since the kingdom closed its borders for worshipers.
On Saturday, more than 230,000 people rallied against mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for the medical staff and sanitary passes throughout France after the government decided to expanded the usage of the passes for cafes, restaurants and shopping centers starting August 9.
Saudi Arabia's state oil and gas company Saudi Aramco reported a gain of $25.5 billion in net income in the Q2 of 2021, marking a record 288% increase compared to the same period of the last year, attributed to the higher oil prices and a recovery in global demand due to the easing of COVID-related restrictions, vaccination campaigns and stimulus measures across the world.
President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach announced the successful completion of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo despite all the challenges of the pandemic, as, according to him, the Games had not resulted in a spike of new COVID-19 cases in Japan, while only 0.02% of the participants had tested positive for the virus.
The WHO announced that future variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, could be named after star constellations when the currently used letters of the Greek alphabet run out.
Over the weekend, the US states of Florida and Louisiana hit record numbers in new daily cases and hospitalizations as the coronavirus Delta variant spreads across the country with 13,427 and 2,421 hospitalizations, respectively.
The US Border Patrol Council Vice President Chris Cabrera told Sputnik on Saturday that few of the undocumented migrants apprehended on the US southern border are tested for COVID-19 unless they show symptoms, as the US health officials struggle with soaring numbers of infections among migrants in federal custody.
Human rights activists have appealed to the US State Department to look into the reports that China was ordering anal swab tests for COVID-19 for American diplomats.
Cuba has received a ship from Nicaragua with humanitarian aid, carrying 30 containers with food and other supplies amid the spike in the new COVID-19 cases in the island nation.
