Live Updates: COVID-19 Death Toll in US Tops 20,000 - Johns Hopkins University

The Venezuelan government is extending the quarantine measures introduced in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic for an additional month, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said.

"We want to inform that President Nicolas Maduro has decided to extend the state of alarm for an additional 30 days," Rodriguez, who heads the presidential commission on the fight against the spread of COVID-19, announced in a televised address on Saturday.

The vice president stressed the importance to adhere to the quarantine measures introduced on 16 March.

According to data from the Coronavirus Resource Center of the Johns Hopkins University, Venezuela has 175 confirmed coronavirus cases and 9 COVID-19 fatalities.

Earlier this week, Venezuela received a second batch of coronavirus test systems from Russia. The first batch of 10,000 tests was delivered from Russia to Venezuela on 24 March.

More than 10,500 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in South Korea, 32 new cases and three new deaths from COVID-19 were registered in the past 24 hours, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

The number of recovered individuals now stands at 7,368 with 125 people having been released from hospitals in the past 24 hours, KCDC said on Sunday. The total COVID-19 death toll in the country is 214.

In the past 24 hours, 24 imported coronavirus cases were registered in South Korea. The total number of COVID-19 cases confirmed in the country is 10,512.

On Saturday, KCDC said that there were 10,480 confirmed coronavirus cases in South Korea and the death toll was 211.

China has registered 99 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, 97 of them imported, which is an increase from a day earlier, the country’s National Health Commission said on Sunday.

The day before, there were 46 new coronavirus cases in mainland China (42 of them imported) and 3 new deaths from COVID-19.

On Sunday, China’s Health Commission said that no new deaths from COVID-19 had been registered in the past 24 hours. Over 1,130 people are being treated for COVID-19 in mainland China, 139 of them are in grave condition, according to the health authorities.

China registered 63 asymptomatic coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, 12 of them imported, the National Health Commission said on Sunday.

China now has over 82,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. The death toll from COVID-19 in the country is 3,339.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Brazil has surpassed 20,000 with the death toll having increased by 67 in the past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry.

Brazil registered 1,089 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the total number of confirmed cases now stands at 20,727 according to the ministry’s Saturday data. The coronavirus death toll in the country currently stands at 1,124.

On Friday, the ministry said that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases was 19,638 and the death toll was 1,057.

According to the ministry, the COVID-19 mortality rate in Brazil is around 5.4 percent.

The number of coronavirus cases in Canada has surpassed 23,000 while the country’s death toll from COVID-19 currently stands at 653, according to Health Canada.

"The number of COVID-19 total cases in Canada was 23,318 as of April 11th, 2020," Health Canada said in its latest update on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Health Canada said that the number of coronavirus cases in Canada had risen by about 1,400 to more than 22,000 patients, while 60 additional fatalities had increased the death toll to 569.

The latest Saturday update from Health Canada put the COVID-19 death toll in the country at 653. Most of the fatalities have occurred in the provinces of Quebec (289) and Ontario (253).

The number of people infected with coronavirus globally has exceeded 1.6 million, the World Health Organization said on Saturday, adding that the death toll now stood at 99,887.

According to the latest WHO data update, the exact COVID-19 count is 1,614,951, registered in 213 countries and territories.

It added that at the moment, most infections — 839,257 cases — were registered in the European region.

According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, the global number of COVID-19 cases has already surpassed 1.76 million, with over 107,700 fatalities.

The number of people who have died in the United States from COVID-19 related complications has surpassed 20,000, according to the latest update from the Johns Hopkins University on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, the US took over Spain as the country with the highest coronavirus related death toll.

The COVID-19 toll in the US has now grown to 519,453 cumulative cases, including 20,071 fatalities, the Johns Hopkins University said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A COVID-19 vaccine may be ready in the United Kingdom by September of this year, Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, told the Times newspaper on Saturday.

According to Gilbert, who is leading the research, the coronavirus vaccine is "just about possible if everything goes perfectly" by the beginning of the fall.

The scientist noted that she was 80 percent confident that the vaccine would work, as cited by the newspaper.

She added that clinical trials of the vaccine should begin in the next two weeks.

The number of people who have died in UK hospitals after contracting COVID-19 has risen to 9,875 since the start of the outbreak, the UK Department of Health and Social Care said on Saturday.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the UK stands at 78,991 as of Saturday, according to the government website.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Experts of the Russian Federal Biomedical Agency (FMBA) said on Saturday they would partake in developing the international standard of the COVID-19 antigen, the molecule capable of triggering an immune response.

"The FMBA St.Petersburg Scientific Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera (SPbNIIVS FMBA) has been offered to partake in the development of the international standard for antigen (protein) and antibodies (serum) for use in the global fight against COVID-19. The SPbNIIVS FMBA will be provided with the best of the available international samples to enhance the projects in the works," the institute's press service said.

According to the press release, these internationally developed viral antigens and antibodies to them were previously not accessible for Russia-based COVID-19 vaccine developers.

The death toll from coronavirus in France has increased to 13,832 from 13,197 the day before, and the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units rose by 255 to 6,883. This is according to the country's health ministry.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Turkey rose by 5,138 in the last 24 hours, with 95 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 1,101, the country's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

He added that the coronavirus death toll in New Jersey has increased by 251, bringing the total to 2,183.

Italy has registered 1,996 new coronavirus cases and 619 deaths over the past day, Angelo Borrelli, the head of the National Civil Protection Department, said on Saturday, adding that the total number of active cases exceeds 100,000.

This is the highest rate since last Sunday. Also this week, a record small increase in new cases has been recorded – 880 per day.

"As of today, there is a total of 100,269 infected people. There has been an increase of 1,996 cases over past 24 hours," Borrelli said.

The number of fatalities has increased by 619 to 19,468. According to Borrelli, the total number of infections since the outbreak, including those who had died and recovered, has reached 152,000.

"The number of people who have recovered has increased to 32,534," the official said.

The number of patients in intensive care units continues to decline, Borrelli added.

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Latvia has increased to 630, with 18 of them being recorded over the past 24 hours, the Latvian Center for Disease Prevention and Control said on Saturday.

"Latvia has confirmed 18 new cases of the coronavirus. As of now, the number of those infected is 630," the health authorities said.

The number of coronavirus-related fatalities has grown to four.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a statement on Saturday saying that all public schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

"Having to tell you that we cannot bring our schools back for the remainder of this school year is painful, but I can also tell you it is the right thing to do," he told a news conference.

Twenty employees of the presidential palace in Kabul have contracted the coronavirus, the Afghan TOLOnews broadcaster reported on Saturday, citing the documents it has seen.

According to the media outlet, there were 517 samples examined in total.

"We will get the best results if we have enough kits. By testing more people, we can find patients who have the virus while it is in its incubation period," Assadullah Esmat, head of the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kabul, was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.

The media did not specify whether Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had undergone a COVID-19 test.

The tally of COVID-19 infection cases in Armenia has grown by 29 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 966, the Health Ministry's Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday.

"A total of 966 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Armenia, 173 patients have recovered. Thirteen people have died," the centre said.

According to the Health Ministry, 780 patients are receiving treatment. More than 6,484 people have tested negative for the disease since the outbreak.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said on Saturday that Moscow sympathizes with Washington over the current COVID-19 outbreak in the US, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 18,600 people.

“We all sympathize with the Americans due to the situation that has developed, and we hope that the Americans will have the courage and the means to overcome the current crisis,” Peskov said during a televised appearance on Russia’s Channel One broadcaster.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the coming couple of weeks would show whether or not Russia is approaching the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

“Over the next couple of weeks, it’s expected that there will be an understanding of whether we are approaching the peak infection rate or when we are approaching it,” Peskov said in a televised interview.

The spokesman went on to say that stay-at-home orders decreed by Russian President Vladimir Putin have helped avert a scenario of exponential growth of cases.

“One could imagine that if this decree had not been signed, now we could be threatened by exponentiality, that is, spasmodic, explosive increases in the number of infected people. We are not observing this now,” Peskov posited.

Hospitals in Moscow, the epicenter of Russia’s COVID-19 outbreak, are conducting heroic work in the context of the current epidemiological crisis, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.

“The influx of patients is very large. We have seen that the hospitals are working extremely hard in Moscow, at a heroic level in emergency conditions. Of course, we are all clenching our fists for our doctors in admiration of their heroism and hope that we will get through,” Peskov said during a televised appearance on Russia’s Channel One broadcaster.

PM has taken correct decision to extend lockdown. Today, India’s position is better than many developed countries because we started lockdown early. If it is stopped now, all gains would be lost. To consolidate, it is imp to extend it

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 11, 2020

According to Spain's health ministry, the nation's coronavirus death toll was 16,353 on Saturday.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Israel has risen by 410 people in 24 to reach over 10,505, the country’s health ministry said on Saturday in its daily update.

According to the information, 191 patients are in serious condition, 132 are connected to ventilators. Over 1,200 patients have recovered so far.

Some of the world’s toughest mitigation measures have been in place in Israel since late last March obliging citizens not to leave their homes unless necessary and not leave their area of settlement at all.

People were not allowed to leave their homes for any reason for the first night of Jewish holiday Passover on Wednesday.

A further 190 cases of the coronavirus disease have been reported in Pakistan, raising the total number of positive tests confirmed in the country since the start of the outbreak to 4,788, according to the government on Saturday.

The bulk of the infections have been recorded in Punjab province, where 2,336 people have tested positive for COVID-19. In Sindh province, 1,214 cases of the disease have been confirmed.

Over the preceding 24 hours, a further five people that had tested positive for the disease died, raising the total death toll to 71.

Medical authorities in the country have conducted 57,836 tests for the disease, including 2,457 tests in the preceding 24 hours.

In total, 762 people have recovered in the country after contracting COVID-19.

The number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Russia has risen by 1,667 over the previous 24 hours to 13,584 since the start of the outbreak, the country’s coronavirus response center announced on Saturday.

“Over the previous 24 hours, 1,667 cases of COVID-19 have been registered in 49 regions in Russia,” the response center said in a statement.

The majority of these new cases were registered in Moscow, the center announced. In total, 1,030 new cases were registered in the Russian capital. As of Saturday, Moscow has recorded almost 9,000 cases.

Meanwhile,152 new positive tests were reported in the Moscow region. Additionally, 80 new cases of the disease were confirmed in St. Petersburg.

A further 12 people have died after contracting the disease, raising the overall death toll since the start of the outbreak to 106, the center added.

“Over the previous 24 hours, 12 patients who had tested positive for the coronavirus disease have died … A total of 106 people in Russia have died,” the center stated.

However, the number of people who have recovered from the disease has risen sharply over the past day and has surpassed 1,000.

“Over the previous 24 hours, 250 people have recovered from the disease … Since the start of the outbreak, the total number of people who have recovered in Russia is now 1,045,” the center added.

A further 45 positive tests for COVID-19 and two deaths have been registered in Thailand over the past 24 hours, Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman for the national coronavirus response center, said on Saturday.

According to the medical authorities, the total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the country since the start of the outbreak now stands at 2,518. The death toll is currently 35, and 1,135 people who have tested positive for the disease have recovered.

On Monday, the Thai government extended a ban on the arrival of international flights at the country’s airports until April 18 due to the ongoing spread of the coronavirus disease.

Hundreds of Russian tourists have been evacuated from Thailand in recent days by the country’s flag carrier Aeroflot.

The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi have discussed how their countries can continue to cooperate to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease, the UAE Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

During the conversation, Al Nahyan stated that China was a role model for other countries looking to effectively curb the spread of COVID-19, and also expressed his gratitude for the cooperation between the two countries, especially in relation to exchanges of medical supplies, according to the press release.

“The intensified channels of cooperation between the two countries on coronavirus translates the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries,” Al Nahyan is quoted as saying in the press release.

China and the UAE will also bolster their strategic partnership in the energy sector, the foreign ministry said.

UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention has confirmed 3,360 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak.

The total number of COVID-19 cases reported in Germany has risen by 4,133 in the preceding 24 hours to 117,658 since the start of the outbreak, the Robert Koch Institute announced on Saturday.

Over the past day, a further 171 people have died after contracting the disease, raising the overall death toll in the country to 2,544, the institute stated.

The number of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Uzbekistan has risen by 25 to 694, the country’s Health Ministry announced on Saturday.

“As of 10:00 on April 11, 2020 [05:00 GMT], the number of cases of coronavirus disease in Uzbekistan is 694,” the Health Ministry said in a message on its official Telegram channel.

On Friday, the Health Ministry had announced that a total of 669 cases had been reported in Uzbekistan since the start of the outbreak. The death toll then stood at three, and 42 people have recovered after contracting the disease, health authorities announced.

The first case of the disease in the country was reported on March 15, identified as a woman who had recently returned from France.

Stringent self-isolation measures have been in force in Uzbekistan since April 1. Citizens over 65 years of age are forbidden to leave their homes, and almost 90,000 people are in state-ordered quarantine.

The Uzbek government has banned all international travel until April 30, and inter-regional passenger travel has also been suspended.

The number of coronavirus cases in India has jumped by over 1,000, a largest single day increase so far, to reach over 7,400 in total with 239 deaths as a result, a daily update from the health authority showed Saturday.

Over 640 of those people have been discharged with complete recoveries, according to the information.

India is site to the world’s largest lockdown, with nearly 1.4 billion people ordered to stay at home until at least April 14.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the nation later on Saturday to voice a decision as to whether or not to extend the lockdown.

High poverty rates and sprawling, densely packed shantytowns have caused concern that the measures may have limited effect.

The number of coronavirus cases in Canada has risen by about 1,400 to reach over 22,000 patients, while 60 additional fatalities have raised the total number to 569, Health Canada said in its daily update Saturday.

Just over half the cases, over 11,600 cases, have been registered in the French-language province of Quebec, with Ontario counting over 6,200 cases.

However, the number of deaths in the two provinces is nearly equal, Quebec losing 241 patients to COVID-19 and Ontario, 222.

The sparsely populated northern territory of Nunavut has yet to register a single case of infection, as most communities there are First Nations inhabitants with limited road access to the rest of the continent.

Nationwide quarantine measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Argentina have been extended by two weeks through April 26, the country’s president Alberto Fernandez announced.

The lockdown had initially been introduced on 30 March and set to expire on Monday, but Fernandez cited the success of social distancing measures in slowing down the spread of COVID-19 when announcing the two-week prolongation.

“Quarantine makes sense. We managed to slow down the rate of infection … The quarantine will continue … until 26 April  inclusive,” the president said at a press conference on Friday evening.

Fernandez also stated that work in several critical industries is expected to resume. Among them, car mechanics and tire changers will be allowed to start working. Banks will also resume their activity.

Additionally, provincial leaders will have the right to lift certain social distancing measures in rural or small urban settlements, the president said.

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease in Kyrgyzstan has increased by 41 to 339 within the past 24 hours, the republic's response center told Sputnik on Saturday.

"On April 11, 2020, 41 new cases of confirmed COVID-19 were registered in the republic," a spokesperson for the center said.

He added that 12 of the newly infected people were doctors.

Thus, the number of people infected with the coronavirus in Kyrgyzstan has reached 339, while the death toll stands at five people. The country has declared an emergency to fight the COVID-19 epidemic.

China has sent a group of doctors to Russia to help it fight the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

"The Chinese government decided to send a group of medical experts to Russia to help Russia fight the epidemic of the coronavirus disease," the ministry said in a statement.

The group has been formed by the Chinese National Health Commission and left for Russia earlier on Saturday.