Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th June, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world surpassed 495,000, over 9.8 million cases of infection were detected, and over 4.97 million of those patients have recovered, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from federal and local authorities, media and other sources.

The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 2,469,441, including 125,081 fatalities and 670,809 recoveries. The country is followed by Brazil and Russia that have been retaining their leading positions among the most affected countries for several weeks in a row.

The United States has set a new record with over 45,000 new cases detected over the past day, and 629 more people died from the disease. A day earlier, more than 39,900 new infections were reported.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil increased by record 46,860 to 1,274,974 within the past 24 hours, and death toll grew by 990 to 55,961 people within the same period of time.

Russia's COVID-19 Response Center said in a daily update on Saturday that the number of people who contracted the coronavirus infection in the country increased by 6,852 to a total of 627,646. Of newly detected cases, 750 have been confirmed in Moscow, 366 in Moscow Region and 280 in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area. The reported daily dynamics included 188 new fatalities, which brought the cumulative death toll to 8,969.

India, which comes fourth in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, has confirmed 18,552 new cases of the coronavirus in the past day, with the total number of those infected having surpassed 500,000, according to the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The death toll from the disease has reached 15,685, with 384 new fatalities being recorded over the past day.

The United Kingdom has registered 100 coronavirus deaths and 890 new cases of the disease in the past 24 hours. This brought the total death toll to 43,514 and the count of cases to 310,250. The day before, the country's health authorities reported about 186 new fatalities and 1,006 new cases.

In Iran, which closes the top ten of the most-hit countries, a total of 2,456 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the past day taking the total count to over 220,000, while the death toll has risen by 125 to 10,134. Iran is seeing a steady increase in COVID-19-related deaths after a significant part of restrictions in the country were lifted in May.

The number of people who have died of COVID-19 in Mexico has risen by 719 to 25,779 within the past 24 hours, while the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had increased by 5,441 to 208,392 within the same period of time. A day earlier, the Latin American nation recorded 6,104 new cases of the coronavirus, with 736 fatalities.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the growing concerns that health care systems of the African states might not cope with the acute health crisis, the number of COVID-19 cases in the region has surpassed 332,820 on Saturday and 9,156 people have died. According to the World Health Organization's Regional Office, South Africa accounts for a third of all infections, with 124,590 people having tested positive. Egypt accounts for the second-biggest share of infections, with 61,130.

Several records have been also set in some of the post-Soviet republics over the past day. Thus, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kyrgyzstan has risen by 309 to 4,513 over the past 24 hours, compared to 250 new cases a day earlier. The death toll from the coronavirus in the central Asian nation stands at 46 people, while 2,212 people have been discharged from hospitals. Moreover, 26 employees of the Kyrgyz government tested positive for the disease while the parliament building was immediately closed for disinfection.

In Uzbekistan, the total coronavirus count has increased by 262, which is the highest rise since the start of the outbreak in the country. The overall number of infections in the country now amounts to 7,490 with 20 deaths.

Serbia, whose Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day, reported 227 new patients and 13,792 cases in total. The number of fatalities has risen by two to 267.

At the same time, Estonia registered no COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours with the overall number of infections in the country at 1,986. Since the start of the outbreak, 69 people died from the disease in the Baltic state.

The White House said in a press release on Saturday that US Vice President Mike Pence met with airline executives to discuss ongoing efforts to recover from financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic after on Friday, the US Department of Transportation said US carriers canceled 41.3 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, which is the largest monthly decline on record. The meeting was held with the top executives of United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Airlines for America.

The International Monetary Fund has approved $356.5 million in financial assistance to Myanmar as the country struggles to cope with economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The funds will go towards the Economic Relief Plan put together by Myanmar's government to tackle the economic impact of COVID-19, including through such measures as increased health expenditure, food distribution, support to businesses and farmers and cash transfer programs for the most vulnerable populations.

Pope Francis donated 35 lung ventilators to those states whose health systems are experiencing the most serious difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The medical equipment has been sent to 13 countries, including Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Ukraine.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Saturday during the conference on the Coronavirus Global Response international initiative that a COVID-19 vaccine, when developed, should be treated as a global public good and distributed around the world without being used for profit.

Director of Russia's Federal Agency for Tourism Zarina Doguzova told reporters that starting from July 1, 67 Russian regions would begin to accept tourists after the COVID-19 lockdown. However, although tourism would be launched, some restrictions linked to COVID-19 would be still in place.

Russian Ambassador in Ankara Alexei Erkhov said on Saturday that Russia and Turkey were discussing prospects of resuming air traffic and tourism after the coronavirus-related halt.

The United Kingdom is set to drop the mandatory two-week self-isolation requirement for people arriving from countries deemed favorable from the epidemiological viewpoint, according to a government spokesperson. The new risk-assessment system will have countries categorized into three color groups with a "traffic-light" reference system, where the color green means low risk, amber means moderate risk requiring attention, and the red is for circumstances requiring an immediate intervention.

Myanmar authorities have extended anti-epidemic measures until July 15, the Myanmar Times newspaper reported. This is the fifth extension of the restrictions since they were introduced for the first time in April.

The Peruvian government prolonged the state of emergency in the country until July 31 and decided to keep quarantine rules in seven departments. Meanwhile, in the rest of the country, self-isolation measures will be canceled.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that the city authorities decided to postpone the reopening of the city after COVID-19 quarantine initially scheduled for Monday due to an increase in the number of new infections.