The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 593,000, over 13.9 million cases of infection were detected, and almost 7.8 million 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
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 593,000, over 13.9 million cases of infection were detected, and almost 7.8 million 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 Friday, the number of people infected globally is 13,921,699, of them 593,072 died.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 3,626,500, including 138,979 fatalities and 1,090,645 recoveries.
A record 237,743 new coronavirus cases were reported worldwide in the previous day, the World Health Organization said.
Brazil is not out of the woods yet despite seeing daily coronavirus cases stabilize between 40,000 and 45,000, Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization's executive director for health emergencies, said.
Canadian public health officials are concerned by the recent spike in novel coronavirus cases across the country, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo told reporters.
Almost 234,200 people in Kazakhstan have been diagnosed with various types of pneumonia from January 1 to July 15, which is more than a threefold increase compared to the same period in 2019, Health Minister Alexey Tsoy said.
Turkey has registered 926 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, which is the lowest single-day increase since June 10, the Health Ministry said.
The Trump administration will unveil guidance on reopening of schools in the United States this week or the next week, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said.
The coronavirus-related lockdown in Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires and several provinces will be extended until August 2 but with certain abatement of restrictions on businesses and individuals, which will include reopening of small shops and hairdressing services, President Alberto Fernandez said.
Swiss authorities will conduct unannounced random checks of compliance with self-isolation regime among travelers arriving in the country amid high rate of imported COVID-19 cases, Patrick Mathis, the spokesman of Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health, said.
Estonian Foreign Ministry said that arrivals from 10 European countries would be quarantined starting July 20.
Thailand has changed the entry rules for foreign diplomats amid the COVID-19 outbreak, making them undergo a 14-day quarantine solely in local state facilities, Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, a spokesman for the country's coronavirus response center, said.
The Japanese government does not see the need to re-introduce the emergency regime, despite the recent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
India partially resumes air traffic as part of "air bubble" arrangements with the United States, France, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, starting on Friday, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
The Israeli government chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to reintroduce a number of preventive measures that enter into effect on Friday evening amid a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the country over the last few weeks.
US economic output may contract by an annualized rate of 37 percent in the second quarter of 2020 and close 6.6 percent at year's end due to novel coronavirus pandemic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was noting early signs of the Russian-US cooperation revival amid the coronavirus pandemic, still stressing it is too early to let the guard down.
The coronavirus pandemic might intensify acute malnutrition in children in West and Central Africa, with more than 15 million cases predicted in 2020, the World Food Program (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a joint press release.
British Airways, the United Kingdom's flag carrier, is retiring its entire fleet of Boeing 747s, also known as jumbo jets, amid the coronavirus-related downturn in global travel, the airline said.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned against optimism of a swift or predictable economic recovery. The governor went on to say that the pace of recovery depended on how fast people will return to work and previous spending habits.
The economic consequences that have followed the COVID-19 pandemic may open ways of rapid enrichment for the Italian organized crime groups, according to a report by the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate, sent to the country's upper house.
The Intergovernmental Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) adopted a plan on COVID-19 response for the member states during a session in Minsk on Friday. The action plan envisages exchange of vital information and a common response to the outbreaks of infectious diseases. The plan also envisions conducting joint vaccine research.
The United States will begin distributing $10 billion for up to 1,000 hospitals to help recover losses suffered while treating COVID-19 patients in early months of the pandemic, when virtually all money-making non-urgent medical care was halted, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said.
US lawmakers should consider forgiving loans taken by small businesses amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and approve a second round of borrowing for those who could prove their revenues had considerably suffered, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
The Federal Reserve's Main Street Lending Program for small and mid-sized businesses distressed by the novel coronavirus pandemic is being extended to non-profit organizations as the negative impact of the pandemic continues, Mnuchin also said.
The UK government decided to provide an extra three billion pounds ($3.7 billion) to England's National Health Service (NHS) to get ready for the winter months in which a second wave of COVID-19 might hit the country, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, adding that other countries of the UK would also receive additional funds.
A plane carrying medical supplies sent by the World Health Organization (WHO) to help Turkmenistan prepare for the coronavirus pandemic has arrived in the country's Turkmenabat International Airport, the Neytralnyy Turkmenistan (Neutral Turkmenistan) newspaper reported.
A vaccine against COVID-19 will be suitable for everyone except people with severe chronic diseases of the immune system, Alexander Gintsburg, the director of Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, told Sputnik.
Gamaleya Institute has produced a coronavirus vaccine that is patented and more advanced than Western competitors and will be happy to share the technology with foreign colleagues, should they ask it, Gintsburg also told Sputnik.
Russia will make a coronavirus vaccine candidate it is working available to general public before it clears the third and last phase of clinical trials, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said. The registration of a Russian vaccine against the coronavirus is expected to be completed in the first half of August, Murashko said.
Many foreign nations are interested in Russia's coronavirus response experience due to the low mortality rate in the country and the Russian Health Ministry gets in touch with health authorities of two or three countries weekly to share this experience, Murashko also said.
Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharm agreed with AstraZeneca to produce Oxford vaccine against COVID-19 in Russia, including for its subsequent export to 30-50 countries, R-Pharm founder and board chairman, Alexey Repik, said.
Russian medicine Artlegia, which is produced by R-Pharm and used in treating COVID-19 complications, is being registered in India, Brazil, and the United States, Repik also said.
Moldova is interested in receiving the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 after it has proven its effectiveness, President Igor Dodon said.
It is too early to discuss what percentage of New York City residents have herd immunity to the novel coronavirus disease, New York State Department of Health (NYSDH) Director of Public Information Jonah Bruno told Sputnik. He noted that according to recent serology tests, conducted by the health department, approximately 20 percent of New York City residents have COVID-19 antibodies.
Around 60 percent of Moscow residents have herd immunity to the coronavirus, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin told Sputnik.
More than a tonne of plasma with antibodies to COVID-19 has been prepared to treat those infected with coronavirus in Moscow, Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova said, adding that over 1,750 patients became donors.
A full-fledged World Health Organization (WHO) team of experts to identify animal source of COVID-19 will not be dispatched to China until August, WHO Health Emergencies Programme Executive Director Michael Ryan said.
Germany has not yet registered any cyberattacks on its major developers of vaccines against the coronavirus, the Interior Ministry's spokesman, Steve Alter, said. On Thursday, the UK National Cyber Security Centre said it had uncovered, in cooperation with the United States and Canada, a "malicious campaign" of Russian-linked hackers to steal valuable information from coronavirus vaccine developers in the three countries. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab blamed Russian intelligence services for the attack, and the Kremlin firmly refuted accusations.
Beijing has urged for ceasing accusations that Russia had conducted cyberattacks on foreign companies developing coronavirus vaccines as long as they come with no evidence, as conveyed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
UK Minister of State for Security James Brokenshire said that the United Kingdom did not have any evidence that alleged Russian cyberattacks had hindered the process of development of the COVID-19 vaccine.
