As the number of COVID-19 cases confirmed globally has surpassed 1 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) is stressing the need for countries, shutting their economies down to curb the spreading of the coronavirus, to be patient and give time for lockdowns to work
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2020) As the number of COVID-19 cases confirmed globally has surpassed 1 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) is stressing the need for countries, shutting their economies down to curb the spreading of the coronavirus, to be patient and give time for lockdowns to work.
Malawi has confirmed the first three COVID-19 cases, which means that only four countries in Africa � Lesotho, South Sudan, Comoros, and Sao Tome and Principe � remain unaffected.
Libya and Kyrgyzstan have recorded the first deaths caused by the coronavirus.
Germany's number of confirmed coronavirus cases has jumped by 6,174 to 79,696, and the death toll has risen by 145 to 1,017 in the past 24 hours, the Robert Koch Institute said on Friday.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has risen above 250,000, Johns Hopkins University's real-time tracker showed on Friday. At least 6,586 people have died from the disease. The US state of New York has registered the highest daily increase in the number of deaths related to COVID-19 complications, with fatalities now standing at 2,935 and the total number of positive cases climbing to 102,863, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press briefing on Friday.
Turkey has registered 2,786 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 20,921. The death toll has increased to 425, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.
Italy has registered 766 deaths caused by COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, and the number of new cases has increased by 2,339, Angelo Borrelli, the head of the national Civil Protection Department, said on Friday. The country has confirmed 119,827 cases so far, with the death toll amounting to 14,681.
A total of 588 people have died from the coronavirus in French hospitals over the past 24 hours, with the death toll reaching 6,507, Jerome Salomon, the head of the national public health service, said on Friday.
Canada's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 11,747, after surging by 1,281, while the death toll now stands at 152, the Health Ministry said on Friday.
Brazil's number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 1,074 to 7,910 within the past 24 hours, the national Health Ministry said. Within the same period of time, the death toll has risen by 24 percent � or 58 people � to 299.
Switzerland's number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 1,036 to 19,303, and the death toll has grown by 52 to 484, the Federal Office of Public Health said on Friday.
China has registered 29 new imported cases of COVID-19 and two cases of internal transmission within the past 24 hours, with four people having died of the disease, the National Health Commission said on Friday.
Russia suspends, starting April 4, international flights for evacuating citizens from abroad, in order to contain the coronavirus through preventing a new wave of imported cases, the national COVID-19 response center confirmed on Friday.
Turkey will close 30 of its major cities for entry and exit for a 15-day period, also banning citizens under 20 from leaving homes, to prevent further spreading of the coronavirus, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is considering the introduction of a 24-hour curfew in the country in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus, government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said on Friday.
Saudi Arabia has decided to impose a curfew in three provinces starting from 3 p.m. (12:00 GMT) until further notice over the current COVID-19 situation, the state Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday, citing a source in the Interior Ministry.
The International Monetary Fund announced plans to double its emergency response capacity from $50 billion to $100 billion.
Saudi Arabia will allocate 9 billion riyals (almost $2.4 billion) to compensate salaries for the employees working for private entities that are unable to fulfill their obligations due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday, citing a Royal decree.
The US administration launches on Friday a paycheck protection program, allowing small businesses to keep their personnel amid coronavirus shutdowns, and expects within two weeks to start cash handouts to taxpayers, Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin told reporters.
The Austrian government has pledged 38 billion euros ($41 billion) in assistance for businesses and workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Friday.
The Swiss government said on Friday it was doubling the size of its coronavirus emergency loan scheme to 40 billion Swiss francs ($41 billion) after being flooded with requests for help from businesses.
The Japanese government is considering to introduce stipends worth 300,000 yen ($2,700) for households whose income was disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, NHK reported.
The WHO has received pledges of almost $690 million from global donors, with most of it coming from Kuwait, for its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.
The BRICS New Development Bank said on Friday it had issued bonds worth RMB 5 billion yuan (about $705 million) in the China Interbank Bond Market to assist Beijing in combating the coronavirus.
The World Bank said on Friday it had approved an over $100 million worth of fast financing for Afghanistan to help the country fight the spread of the coronavirus.
US President Donald Trump told reporters that Russia sent to the US a lot of high quality medical supplies that may save many lives amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Russia and Serbia have discussed the engagement of Russian medical experts, arriving in the country to assist the fight against the coronavirus, and have agreed that they will operate in areas with unfavorable epidemiological situation, including Belgrade and Novi Sad, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday. Experts from the ministry's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops may be engaged in the disinfection of a military town, where coronavirus cases have been registered among Serbian military.
A new field hospital, which has been constructed in the northern Italian city of Bergamo with the help of Russian military, is going to receive first patients with COVID-19 on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The first shipment of medical equipment from the northeastern Chinese city of Heihe has crossed the border into the city of Blagoveshchensk, located in Russia's Far East, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Heihe administration told Sputnik on Friday.
It is in the European Union's interests to provide assistance to Africa to combat the spread of COVID-19, as a rapid rise in the number of cases could result in the disease spreading back to Europe, the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said during a press briefing on Friday.
Armenia has requested 10,000 COVID-19 testing kits from Russia, and has already received 3,000 of them, Alina Nikoghosyan, a spokesperson for the country's Health Ministry, told Sputnik on Friday.
REJECTION OF RUSSIAN RESOLUTION CALLING FOR SANCTIONS RELIEF
The US, the EU, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Georgia have blocked a Russia-drafted UN General Assembly resolution calling for solidarity and global sanctions relief in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Russia's permanent mission to the organization.
The Western countries have proved the complete loss of moral leadership in the world by rejecting the Russia-drafted resolution calling for global sanctions relief in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the Russian upper house's Foreign Affairs committee, said on Friday.
Borrell said on Friday that the EU should enhance efforts to fight not only the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic but also the so-called infodemic, disinformation concerning COVID-19 that may likewise be dangerous for people's health.
Russia's permanent representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, has denounced in an interview with Sputnik recent claims by a European Parliament political group about Russia's disinformation campaign on the coronavirus, saying that it is strange to engage in accusations amid the ongoing crisis.
Turkish health care professionals are planning to trial a treatment against COVID-19 that will involve blood transfusions from those who have recovered from the disease to patients still displaying symptoms, Turkish Red Crescent Society President Kerem Kinik said on Friday.
IRAQ SUSPENDS REUTERS ACCREDITATION
The Iraqi authorities decided to suspend the accreditation of the Reuters news agency's office for three months after the latter had published an article about the allegedly massive spread of the coronavirus in the country, the national Communications and Media Commission said.
However, a Reuters spokesperson told Sputnik that the agency had not received any notification on the matter and was making effort to clarify the situation.
