MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world surpassed 195,000, more than 2.78 million cases of infection were detected, and more than 765,000 of those patients were cured, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from federal and local authorities, media and other sources.
As of 21.00 GMT, the number of people infected globally is 2,783,512, of them 195,775 died.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 889,661, up more than 43,000 over the past day. This includes 96,873 recoveries and 50,890 fatalities.
People in Russia may resume normal life only after the third incubation period of the coronavirus epidemic has passed, the country's chief public health official Anna Popova said, adding that Russia has now passed through two incubation periods.
Russia should emerge from the lockdown gradually, maintaining the restrictions until at least May 12 to avoid a recurrent rise in coronavirus cases, Alexander Semenov, deputy director of the St. Petersburg Pasteur Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, said.
Veronika Skvortsova, the head of the Federal Biomedical Agency, told Russian lawmakers that the country may reach the plateau in terms of the coronavirus infection growth by May 1.
The Israeli government has decided to ease some of the coronavirus emergency measures and open shops, restaurants and other non-essential businesses starting on April 26.
Estonia extends a state of emergency, which was imposed in the Baltic country due to the coronavirus outbreak, until May 17, Prime Minister Juri Ratas said.
Although Lichtenstein is set to gradually ease the coronavirus-fuelled lockdown from Monday on, the ban on mass gatherings exceeding 100 persons will stay in force until the end of the summer, the government said.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday expressed concern that food and medical supply disruptions arising from the growing use of export restrictions amid the pandemic were dangerously counterproductive.
The coronavirus pandemic could push up to 10 million Syrians on the brink of starvation, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) President Francesco Rocca told reporters.
The UN's World Food Program (WFP) might face a lack of funding, as its major donor countries have been significantly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and are currently dealing with the economic consequences of the crisis, WFP Senior Regional Communications Officer for the middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Abeer Etefa told Sputnik.
The US economy is expected to return to growth from the third quarter onward after a potentially deep contraction in the second quarter due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said.
Russian economy is losing about 100 billion rubles ($1.34 billion) a day due to restrictions imposed to contain the new coronavirus, Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov said.
The number of calls on domestic abuse has gone up by roughly 30 percent over the past six weeks as the COVID-19 stay-at-home order took effect in the United Kingdom and more than 4,000 arrests ensued, the Metropolitan Police said.
US President Donald Trump signed into law a nearly half-a-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill that provides funding for small businesses, hospitals and testing in the United States. The rescue package to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the US economy has reached about $9 trillion, White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a 75 percent rent reduction for small businesses impacted by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Trudeau also said that the federal government would deploy the military in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec to assist with efforts to combat COVID-19 outbreak there.
Italy's northwestern region of Piedmont needs Russian military specialists' help with disinfection, primarily in retirement homes, as the coronavirus threat persists, Marco Gabusi, the region's councilor of civil protection and infrastructure, told Sputnik.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it would built 90 quarantine shelters in Nigeria to facilitate adequate social distancing of vulnerable communities in the violence-torn African country during the coronavirus pandemic.
Countries in Africa are highly exposed to the dangers of COVID-19, and the continent needs more help to curb the spread of the virus, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is collaborating with partner entities to open three additional medical centers in northwestern Syria fully equipped for admitting potential COVID-19 patients, Mahmoud Daher, the head of WHO operations in northwestern Syria, told Sputnik.
Everyone in the world should have equal access to the COVID-19 treatment and vaccine, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
The WHO is launching the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, also called the ACT Accelerator, in a bid to prompt the development and distribution of test kits, vaccines and methods for treating the coronavirus, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Russia will have a vaccine against COVID-19 by the end of the year, and tests on volunteers may be completed by the fall already, Vladimir Chulanov, the deputy head of the health ministry's phthisiopulmonology and infectious disease center, said.
The United Kingdom will host a virtual Global Vaccines Summit to reinforce its commitment to ensuring equitable access to any coronavirus vaccine, First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said. The UK will also host a summit in June seeking to raise billions of Dollars for the preeminent vaccination organization, Gavi, to produce a coronavirus vaccine, Raab said.
The United Kingdom will try deploying drones to deliver medical supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic next week, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned doctors in a press release against using two drugs previously touted by President Donald Trump � chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine � to treat coronavirus patients outside clinical trials due to potential side effects, including irregular heart rhythms, as well as and a lack of scientific evidence showing the drugs effective.
The experimental transfusion of blood plasma in India from people who have recovered from the coronavirus disease to current patients in critical condition shows encouraging results, Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal said.
Tests for antibodies to coronavirus are not yet widely represented in Russia, while the terms of antibodies appearance range from five to 14 days from the first symptoms, according to the Russian Health Ministry's guidelines on clinical practice and treatment of the disease caused by the new coronavirus infection in children.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday that he disagrees with President Donald Trump's statement that the World Health Organization (WHO)'s job was to warn the United States about the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
