The United States remains the country hardest hit by the pandemic, with over 870,000 infected and over 50,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University. New York remains the worst-hit city, with 145,000 confirmed cases and a death toll in excess of 16,300.
Spain and Italy remain the worst-hit countries in Europe, coming right after the US in the number of infected and number of fatalities respectively.
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SEOUL (Sputnik) – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Korea has risen by 10 to 10,718 over the past day, the Health Ministry's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Saturday.
The death toll has not changed within the same period of time and stands at 240 people, according to the KCDC.
A day earlier, South Korea registered six cases of COVID-19 and no fatalities.
The number of recovered people stands at 8,501.
The country has conducted more than 575,000 coronavirus tests, with the results of 9,259 tests being processed now.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in the United States, has increased by 3,332 within the past 24 hours to 51,017, Johns Hopkins University said.
A day earlier, the US registered 2,139 coronavirus fatalities.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States has increased over the past day by 28,819 to 890,524.
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) – Argentina has confirmed 172 new cases of the coronavirus across the country within the past 24 hours, with the total number of people infected with COVID-19 having reached 3,607, the national Ministry of Health said.
A day earlier, Argentina recorded 147 new cases of the coronavirus disease.
"Today, 172 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, bringing the total number of [COVID-19] positive tests in the country to 3,607," the ministry said in a daily bulletin on late Friday.
The death toll has increased by nine to 176 people within the same period of time.
BEIJING (Sputnik) – China has registered 11 new imported cases of COVID-19 and one more case of internal transmission within the past 24 hours, with no people having died of the disease, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.
“The National Health Commission received information about 82,816 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by a new type of coronavirus from 31 provinces [regions and municipalities], including 838 currently ill people. 49 people are in critical condition, 4,632 have died, 77,346 people have been discharged from hospitals,” the commission said in a statement.
No new cases of the coronavirus have been registered in the province of Hubei, where the city of Wuhan – the epicenter of the pandemic – is located.
The number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong stands at 1,035 people, with four patients having died and 725 more having been discharged from hospitals. Forty-five people have been infected with the disease in Macao, with 27 of them having been released from medical facilities. The number of infected people in Taiwan amounts to 428, with six of them having died and 264 others recovered.
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil has increased by 3,503 to 52,995 within the past 24 hours, the National Ministry of Health said on late Friday.
A day earlier, Brazil reported about 3,735 new cases of the coronavirus disease.
The death toll has risen by 357 to 3,670 people within the past 24 hours, 50 fatalities less than on the previous day.
More than 27,600 patients have already recovered from the disease, the ministry added.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The number of US deaths caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has surpassed 51,000 with total cases tally exceeding 890,000, Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center data showed.
The United States now has registered 51,017 fatalities and 890,524 cases overall, according to the data updated on Friday.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19)-related deaths in the US state of California surpassed 1,500 as another 93 people died from the disease in the past 24 hours, Governor Gavin Newsom said during a press conference on Friday.
"Ninety-three additional people lost their lives compared to the time I spoke yesterday until today," Newsom told reporters. "The new losses bring the number of fatalities to 1,562."
On Thursday, Newsom reported 115 deaths in California, the largest daily increase in the state.
California has confirmed 39,254 COVID-19 cases and has placed 3,344 patients in hospitals, including 1,216 in intensive care units (ICU).
"We saw five percent more people test positive over the last 24-hour period for COVID-19. Hospitalizations were flat yesterday, no statistical growth... That’s good news," Newsom said. "ICU numbers, which were down yesterday, are slightly up, but just one percent, which again is encouraging."
Newsom said that no "new lights are yet green" to start revising the stay at home order and other restrictive measures and begin the economic reopening of California.
"We don’t debate dates, we are only guided by indicators," Newsom said.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US state of New Jersey has reported 253 new COVID-19 related deaths and more than 100,000 cases, Governor Phil Murphy said in a press briefing on Friday.
"Today, we are announcing an additional 3,047 positive test results pushing our state total to 102,196," Murphy said. "And sadly, we must report with the heaviest of hearts 253 additional lives lost meaning that we have now lost a total of 5,617 of our blessed residents to COvId-19 related complications."
He also noted that there are 6,847 hospitalizations, with 1,933 in critical or intensive care and 1,487 persons on ventilators, while field medical stations reported 98 patients.
TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israel has confirmed 176 more coronavirus cases on Friday, taking the total to 15,058, the Health Ministry said on Friday, adding that the death toll had risen by one to 194.
On Friday morning, the country reported that 79 new COVID-19 cases and one fatality had been confirmed overnight. It means that the total increase in cases from the previous evening totals 255. That is a decrease from the 305 new cases recorded over the same period a day before.
As of 8 p.m. (17:00 GMT), 137 patients are in serious condition. Of them, 102 are in need of lung ventilation treatment.
Over the past day, 318 more people have recovered, taking the total to 6,003.
NEW YORK (Sputnik) - The US state of New York’s death toll from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection passed 16,000 on Friday, according to the New York State Department of Health.
The Health Department’s COVID-19 Tracker revealed that COVID-19 has already claimed the lives of at least 16,162 New Yorkers.
Earlier in the day, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that on Thursday, 422 residents died from the virus.
Meanwhile, the total number of people who tested positive for the disease has climbed to 271,590 statewide, with 8,130 new cases diagnosed on April 23.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow has registered 41 deaths of patients with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian capital's death toll to 366, the city's coronavirus response centre said in a statement on Friday.
"Another 41 patients, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow", it said.
The deceased patients were 34 to 92 years old, most of them had concurrent diseases, the centre said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan has reached 11,155 as of Friday, with 344 of them being registered over the past 24 hours, according to the country's government.
A total of 2,527 patients have recovered from the disease since the outbreak, while 237 others have died.
Among the most affected provinces are Punjab (4,767 infections), Sindh (3,671 infections), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (1,541 infections), Balochistan (607 infections), Islamabad (214).
So far, more than 131,300 people have tested for the coronavirus.
As of Thursday, there were 10,811 people infected with the virus.
"I fast-tracked trials to begin next week to carry medical supplies and equipment", Transport Minister Grant Shapps told reporters, adding that they would initially see drones carry supplies to a hospital on the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England.
PARIS (Sputnik) - The death toll from the coronavirus reported in France's hospitals and care facilities has surpassed 22,200 after 389 deaths were registered in the preceding 24 hours, Jerome Salomon, the head of the state health agency, said on Friday.
"We mourn 22,245 deaths from the coronavirus in France's hospitals and care facilities since 1 March", he said.
On Thursday, the death toll was 21.856.
The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has fallen for the 15th day in a row to 4,870, Salomon said.
As many as 28,658 coronavirus-infected people remain in hospitals, he said.
The total number of cases since the beginning of COVID-19 epidemic in France reached 122,577, of them about 43,500 recovered.
WASHINGTON Sputnik) - The US Defence Department on Friday said it had counted 6,213 coronavirus cases and 26 deaths among its service members, contractors and related civilians since the start of the outbreak.
A total of 3,919 US military staff have tested positive for the novel coronavirus to date, and 1,239 have recovered, the Pentagon said in a press release.
The death toll stands at 26, including two service members, it added.
MINSK (Sputnik) - Belarus has confirmed 751 new coronavirus cases, a record daily increase, over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Friday, adding that the total number of infected people increased to 8,773.
"Overall, 8,773 people have tested positive for COVID-19", the ministry said.
In addition, three coronavirus-related deaths were registered in Belarus over the given period, so the COVID-19 death toll climbed to 63.
Almost half of all cases — more than 4,000 — were detected in Minsk, the capital of the country.
Deputy Health Minister of Belarus Elena Bogdan said on Friday that Avigan, an experimental drug for the treatment of patients with COVID-19, would soon be delivered to Belarus.
"Today, we use everything that the world has to offer to treat our patients. Next week ... we are expecting the delivery of the experimental drug Avigan, we already have the drug called Immard", Bogdan said during a briefing.
The deputy minister also thanked 25 people recovered from COVID-19 for donating their plasma, which is used for treating coronavirus-infected people in critical condition.
TORONTO (Sputnik) - The number of Canadians confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) increased by nearly 2,000 in the past 24 hours to 42,750, updated figures from Canada’s Public Health Agency revealed on Friday.
The COVID-19-related death toll rose to 2,197, the data also showed.
The province of Quebec remains the epicentre of the outbreak in Canada, accounting for more than half of all confirmed cases - 21,838 - and 1,243 deaths.
The dire situation in long-term health care facilities across Canada also remains in the national spotlight.
NEW YORK (Sputnik) - New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press briefing that 422 state residents died on Thursday from complications of having contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) or 16 less than the previous day.
"Number of lives lost is still heartbreaking news - 422. This is an unimaginable level", Cuomo said on Friday.
GENOA (Sputnik) - The number of currently positive COVID-19 cases in Italy continues to fall and has dropped by 321 since Thursday, Italy’s Civil Protection Department said in a statement on Friday.
"The total number of infected persons is 192.994, with an increase of 3.021 new cases compared to yesterday. The current total of positive cases is 106,527 resulting in a decrease of 321 cases", the statement read
According to the new statistics, the number of patients in the intensive care unit is 2,173, which means there has been a decrease of 94 patients since Thursday.
"We report 420 new victims today, which brings our national death toll to 25,969", the statement adds.
On Thursday, Italy recorded 464 new deaths.
BELGRADE (Sputnik) - The number of deaths from COVID-19 in Serbia on Friday has surpassed 140, while the total number of cases exceeded 7,400, the Health Ministry said.
According to the ministry, over the last 24 hours, 207 new cases were registered, bringing the tally to 7,483. Five people have passed away from the disease increasing the number of deaths to 144.
On Tuesday, the Serbian government relaxed restrictions adopted to stop the spread of COVID-19, allowing citizens under 65 go outside from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time and those over this age to go outside for 30 minutes three times a week from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of COVID-19-related deaths in the United States has surpassed 50,000, Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre data showed on Friday.
The US has confirmed 50,031 deaths and 870,468 cases overall so far, according to the university's data.
The US currently leads the world in the number of reported COVID-19 deaths and confirmed cases. There are more than 2.7 million COVID-19 cases worldwide and more than 192,000 deaths, according to the data.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia has risen by 1,172 to 15,102, while the death toll has increased to 127 after six new fatalities have been confirmed, the country’s Health Ministry said on Friday.
"The Health Ministry announces that it has registered 1,172 new coronavirus cases (COVID-19) and six more fatalities. [The ministry has also] recorded 124 recoveries, which brings the total of recoveries to 2,049", the ministry said in an official statement.
According to the ministry's spokesman, the active cases in the country amount to 12,926, as well as 93 patients are in critical condition. The spokesman noted that 25 percent of those infected were Saudis, and 75 percent were other nationals.
As of Thursday, a total of 13,930 people have been infected with the virus, including 121 fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The total number of people infected with the new coronavirus across the African continent has surpassed 27,000, including more than 1,200 fatalities, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.
"Over 27,000 #COVID19 cases reported on the African continent - with over 7,000 associated recoveries & 1,200 deaths recorded", the WHO regional office in Africa said on Twitter.
According to the shared spreadsheet, the worst hotbeds of COVID-19 infection in the African continent are South Africa with confirmed 3,953 cases, followed by Egypt with 3,659 cases, Morocco with 3,537 cases, and Algeria with 3,007 cases.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Testing for the coronavirus infection in Syria's northwest has not revealed any positive cases, and the World Health Organisation is working to open new laboratories in a bid to increase testing capacity in the area, Mahmoud Daher, the head of WHO operations in northwestern Syria, said in an interview.
"As of 22 April 2020, there continue to be no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Syria’s northwest", Daher said.
He said 191 samples have been tested from Aleppo and Idlib and all tested negative, as of this past Wednesday.
"The WHO and cluster partners are working on opening additional labs to increase testing capacity", Daher said.
Great conversation with President Lenin Moreno of the Republic if Equador. We will be sending them desperately needed Ventilators, of which we have recently manufactured many, and helping them in other ways. They are fighting hard against CoronaVirus!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2020
RABAT (Sputnik) – Morocco has registered 124 more coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, which brings the total of those infected to 3,692, the country’s Health Ministry said on Friday.
The ministry said that the number of recoveries has risen to 478, with 22 more recoveries having been confirmed. Meanwhile, no fatalities have been recorded over the past day, the death toll remains at 155 cases.
Due to the fasting month of Ramadan, which starts in the country on 24 April, the country’s Interior Ministry has announced that a curfew would last from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time (from 19:00 to 05:00 GMT), starting from Saturday, instead of the current curfew’s period from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Moroccan authorities declared a state of emergency on 19 March to contain the spread of COVID-19. As of now, the nationwide lockdown is extended until 20 May.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Bulgaria has seen a daily record increase of 90 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total toll of those infected to 1,171, national media reported on Friday.
According to The Sofia Globe newspaper, citing the national operational headquarters, there are currently 890 active cases of the disease in the country, including 270 patients in hospitals with 37 of them being in intensive care units.
Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus-related fatalities is 52 and 193 patients have recovered since the outbreak.
The newspaper added that the number of medical staff who have tested positive increased by 34 to 129 over the past day.
As of Thursday, over 1,000 people have been infected with the virus, including 95 medical personnel.
"With regard to the work of our servicemen, there are more than 100 people stationed in the north of Italy, [in the cities of] Bergamo and Brescia. There are no problems at all in their relations and cooperation with their Italian colleagues, be it local authorities, military, or emergency services. Everything is organised perfectly", Russian Ambassador to Italy Sergey Razov said on Friday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will have a vaccine against COVID-19 by the end of the year, and tests on volunteers may be completed by the fall, the deputy head of the Health Ministry's phthisiopulmonology and infectious disease centre said on Friday.
"I am sure that this will happen [we will have a vaccine by year’s end]. Both foreign countries and several of Russia's leading institutes with great experience are now actively engaged in development. I am almost sure that by this fall we will already certainly have more than one prototype of the possible vaccine, which will have passed major lab tests and perhaps even tests on volunteers by that time", Chulanov told reporters.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A special force comprising 30,000 servicemen has been created within the Russian Armed Forces to fight COVID-19 among the military, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.
"The armed forces are engaged in a large-scale COVID-19 response. A special task force, comprised of over 30,000 people and 4,000 units of military and special equipment, coordinated by the Defence Ministry's response centre, is dealing with it", Shoigu said.
Thirty-two military hospitals across Russia are ready to accept COVID-19 patients, he added.
China has opened “green channel” for Indian air cargo transport during the #epidemic and approved 35 cargo flights carring medical supplies such as PPEs, ventilators and testing kits to India in the need of the hour. We will continue to support India fighting against #COVID19.
— Sun Weidong (@China_Amb_India) April 24, 2020
"I will not allow for changes to be made that are unsafe. We've got to keep the public safe. And I understand the economic pressures, that is my background and I care deeply about that", Health Minister Matt Hancock said. "I understand those voices who are saying that we should move sooner, but that is not something we're going to do. We're going to move when it is safe to do so".
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has registered 5,849 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 68,622, the national coronavirus response centre said on Friday.
"Over the past 24 hours, 5,849 COVID-19 cases have been registered in 82 regions. Of these, 2,697 (or 46.1 percent) were identified as contact cases with people showing no clinical symptoms", the centre said in a statement, adding that Russia has so far confirmed 68,622 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions, which is a 9.3 percent increase from the day before.
Of the new cases, 2,957 were registered in Moscow, 611 in the Moscow Region, and 253 in St. Petersburg.
The country's COVID-19 death toll has increased by 60 to 615. The earlier figure was 555.
As many as 677 patients have recovered over the given period, taking the total number of cured people from 4,891 to 5,568.
TOKYO (Sputnik) - The Japanese Foreign Ministry on Friday announced it was upgrading the danger level for travel to 14 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus due to the coronavirus pandemic, calling upon citizens to abstain from visiting these countries.
"As of 24 April, cases of coronavirus infection are confirmed in 185 countries across the world, over 2.65 million people are infected, and around 180,000 people have died. The spreading of the virus continues, more and more regions are affected. In these circumstances, taking into consideration different factors, including the number of infected people per 10,000 people, the level of infection danger has been upgraded to third for 14 countries. Please abstain from visiting", the ministry said in a press release.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry's scale consists of four danger levels, with the first being the mildest and the fourth envisioning recommendations to evacuate citizens from a country.
"It will be illegal for information to go out of that data store to any other person other than that for whom the whole thing is designed, and that is to support the health worker in the state to be able to undertake the contact tracing", Morrison stated. He also said that the data would be stored on servers managed by AWS (Amazon unit), noting "it's a nationally encrypted data store".
