MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2020) The United States crossed the 5 million threshold in coronavirus cases on Sunday, becoming by far the worst-hit nation, even with its larger population factored in.
Data collected by Johns Hopkins University shows that the country has over 3 million confirmed active cases and 162,455 virus-related deaths, while more than 1.6 million people have recovered.
More than five months into the pandemic, the global coronavirus tally is approaching 19.7 million, according to statistics from JHU. Brazil remains the world's second worst-affected country with over 3 million cases, followed by India with 2.1 million.
Russia has been pushed into fourth place by India in early July after seeing its daily toll edge down slowly but steadily. It recorded 5,189 new cases on Sunday morning, taking the total to 887,536.
Alex Azar, the secretary of the US Health Department, has meanwhile arrived in Taiwan's main city of Taipei to discuss the pandemic. He said his delegation had tested negative before disembarking. Azar's visit to the Chinese territory has angered Beijing.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote in an article for Mail on Sunday that his priority was getting all pupils back into school in September. This was despite the country's daily toll rising past 1,000 on Sunday for the first time since June.
In the southern Indian city of Vijayawada, at least 10 coronavirus patients reportedly died in a blaze that broke out inside a hotel converted into a COVID-19 facility. There were some 30 patients and 10 medical staff inside at the time of the accident.
North Korea's state news agency KCNA said the government had stepped up controls along the borders to "ensure perfect lockdown," including in the quarantined city of Kaesong on the southern border. There have been no official reports of infection.
European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides said in an interview to the German newspaper Handelsblatt that she had "good evidence" that the first coronavirus vaccine will be made available by the end of this year or in early 2021.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that two local vaccine candidates had cleared the animal trial phase and one had been approved for tests in humans. Turkish researchers are working on eight vaccines and 10 anti-coronavirus drugs.
