MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 608,000, over 14.6 million cases of infection were detected, and over 8.2 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 14,604,077, of them 608,420 died.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 3,804,907, including 140,811 fatalities and 1,131,121 recoveries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was successfully overcoming the coronavirus pandemic thanks to strict compliance with restrictions, noting that the Victory Parade in Moscow and the nationwide vote on constitutional amendments had not resulted in new outbreaks.
India has confirmed over 40,400 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours (which is reportedly its biggest daily surge since the beginning of the pandemic, up from over 38,900 new cases on the previous day), with the total number of infected people surging to 1,118,043, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
The fatality rate from COVID-19 in Yemen is alarmingly high as it has exceeded 27 percent, but the actual number of infected people may be even higher than what has been reported, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is deeply concerned over the risks faced by indigenous peoples in both North America and South America during the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Brazilian education Minister Milton Ribeiro and Minister of Women, Family and Human Right Onyx Lorenzoni have both contracted the coronavirus disease.
Israel extended the ban on entry for foreigners, first imposed in mid-March, until September 1 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, media reported, citing the Israel Airports Authority (IAA).
The US state of New York might reverse reopening and close down bars and restaurants again if people do not improve their compliance with social distancing guidelines, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
Tower of London guards, also known as Beefeaters, are facing layoffs for the first time in their 500-year history due to economic hardships amid the coronavirus-linked lockdown in the United Kingdom, the Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), an independent charity that manages the UK's royal palaces, said.
Russia's vaccine against the coronavirus has not yet been introduced into commercial turnover and can, therefore, be only used as part of the clinical trials, Alexey Kuznetsov, an aide to the Russian health minister, told Sputnik, refuting media reports claiming that the vaccine has been made available for officials.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also commented on media reports claiming that some Russian officials had been vaccinated against coronavirus back in April, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not vaccinated, and it was too early to discuss immunization anyway.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that clinical trials of Russia's coronavirus vaccine conducted jointly with the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology on 20 volunteers had been completed, adding that all the participants have been discharged.
The third phase of trials of the coronavirus vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology will be held not only in Russia but also in the middle East, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev said.
A vaccine against COVID-19 produced by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca that has shown promise during trials and is believed to be both safe and effective is a positive step, but there is a long way to go before the vaccine will reach widespread distribution, Michael Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme, said.
It is an exaggeration to say that a vaccine against COVID-19 will be ready by 2021, let alone by the end of this year, despite London's heavy investment in several projects to create a safe and effective product, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
Meanwhile, the UK government said it had entered partnerships with local developers of coronavirus vaccines and secured early access to over 90 million doses of three different types of vaccines and treatment for priority patients.
US President Donald Trump announced that he would resume his press briefings on the response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, including on progress in obtaining related vaccines, likely starting on Tuesday.
UK-based pharmaceutical company Synairgen announced positive results from trials of its experimental drug against the coronavirus, known as SNG001, in hospitalized patients who needed oxygen assistance, noting that it stopped their disease from progressing in 79 percent of the cases.
The first batch of an Iranian-made version of the remdesivir treatment for COVID-19 is expected to reach the domestic market by next week, Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki said.
The Moscow-based Vnukovo International Airport will launch a paid antibody blood testing for COVID-19 in Terminal A this week, its press service told Sputnik, adding that the test kits were previously available in the airport's medical unit.
Israel's National Association of Nurses went on strike on Monday over deteriorating working conditions and a staff shortage amid the coronavirus pandemic, the chairwoman of the nurses' union, Ilana Cohen, said.
Moscow is calling on the global community to abstain from cyberattacks targeting health care and critical infrastructure units amid the global coronavirus pandemic, Andrey Krutskikh, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of International Information Security, said.
