COVID-19 Live Updates: South Korea Registers 29 New Cases of Coronavirus

The death toll has reached 2,549.

SEOUL (Sputnik) – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Korea has risen by 29 to 10,991 over the past day, the Health Ministry's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Thursday.

South Korea is currently facing a new spike of infections that is believed to be linked to a 29-year-old man who visited several clubs in Seoul, and later tested positive for COVID-19. On Saturday, the authorities of Seoul closed bars and clubs in the city as the number of daily new cases had risen from less than 10 to several dozens after the discovery of the new cluster.

Out of 29 new cases, 26 resulted from the internal transmission, including 20 ones linked to the new cluster.

The death toll has increased from 259 to 260 people. The number of recovered people has reached 9,762.

"Following guidance from the White House, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities, Yellowstone National Park will reopen on a limited basis on 18 May", the National Park Service said in a statement. "The park has been closed to visitors since 24 March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic".

TIRASPOL (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the unrecognised Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, or Transnistria) has topped 700, amounting to 710 - a rise by 21 people, or 3 percent from the previous Wednesday afternoon figure of 689, the PMR's coronavirus response centre said.

The center said the death toll had increased to 28 from 27 the day before after a 52-year-old patient of an infectious diseases hospital having concurrent chronic illnesses died on Wednesday.

The number of recoveries rose by 21 to 295, it said.

BEIJING (Sputnik) - China reported three new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours, down from seven cases the day before, with six recoveries and no deaths.

The country's state health committee said all three new cases were local.

China also recorded 12 new asymptomatic cases over the past day, compared to eight the day before.

Overall, the state health committee said, the country's case tally stands at 82,929, with 4,633 deaths and 78,195 recoveries.

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in Mexico, has risen by 294 to 4,220 within the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said.

The ministry's director of epidemiology, Jose Luis Alomia, also said on late Wednesday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had increased by 1,862 to 40,186 within the same period of time.

A day earlier, the Latin American nation has recorded 1,997 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 353 fatalities.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Sputnik) – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil has increased by 11,385 to 188,974 within the past 24 hours, the National Ministry of Health said on late Wednesday.

The death toll has risen by 749 to 13,149 people within the same period of time.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow has registered 58 deaths of patients with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian capital's death toll to 1,290, the city's coronavirus response centre said in a statement.

"A total of 58 patients who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection have died in Moscow", the centre said.

The day before, 53 people died from COVID-19 in Moscow.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus cases on the global scale reached over 4.17 million, and now there are more COVID-19 carriers in the countries of North and South America combined than across Europe, the World Health Organiыation (WHO) said on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, 84,290 new cases worldwide were reported to WHO.

At the same time, the coronavirus-related death toll grew by 4,248 to 287,525.

The Americas, with 1,781,564 confirmed cases, is now the epicenter of the global pandemic, while Europe has confirmed 1,780,316 cases since the start of the health crisis.

MADRID (Sputnik) - Approximately five percent of the Spanish population has antibodies for COVID-19, according to the preliminary findings of a large-scale study conducted by the country's Ministry of Health that were announced on Wednesday.

"The study shows that five percent of the Spanish population had contact with the virus, a little over two million people", the health minister said at a press conference.

According to the study, more than 10 percent of people in the cities of Madrid, Segovia, Cuenca, Soria, and Albacete have antibodies against the disease. In some regions of the country, less than one percent of people tested have antibodies.

ROME (Sputnik) - More than half of the people who have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak in Italy have since been discharged after undergoing treatment, according to data released by the Department of Civil Protection on Wednesday.

In the country's daily COVID-19 statistical bulletin, the authorities confirmed that 3,502 more people have been discharged over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of individuals who have recovered from the disease to 112,541.

Since the start of the outbreak, 222,104 positive tests have been reported in Italy. The daily rise to the case total on Wednesday was 888, a significant drop from the 1,402 new positive tests reported a day earlier.

A further 195 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, a slight rise from the 172 fatalities reported the day before.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US state of New Jersey will start a limited reopening next Monday because the latest data show the novel coronavirus pandemic receding in one of the United States’ major hotspots, governor Phil Murphy announced.

"Today, I will sign an executive order, effective 6:00 am Monday, 18 May", Murphy said at a daily briefing on Wednesday.

Murphy said the executive order will allow the restart of non-essential construction and the reopening of "non-essential" retail stores for curbside pickup only.

In addition, the governor said the executive order will permit various drive-through and drive-in events, like movies or church services, under existing social distancing guidelines.

Murphy said that by the end of the week he may also announce the resumption of elective medical procedures in New Jersey.

NEW YORK (Sputnik) - New York State has been witnessing over the past weeks a decline in the number of hospitalisations, deaths, and intubations among residents with confirmed novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Governor Andrew Cuomo said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Cuomo displayed a table that revealed the total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has dropped to some 6,000 as of 12 May from the more than 18,000 recorded a month ago.

Daily hospitalisations also declined in New York and stood at 416 on Tuesday, while on 3 April, at least 3,180 new COVID-19 patients entered state hospitals.

The number of fatalities on 12 May has also decreased to 166, compared 195 on Monday, and more than 800 lives lost per day at the peak of the pandemic in early April.

Cuomo said the number of intubated patients has also seen a decrease in New York since mid-April.

"That is good news", Cuomo said.

"We are mourning 27,074 COVID-19-related deaths: 17,101 people have died in hospitals, and 9,973 others in social and medical-social institutions", the National Health Directorate said.

The case tally has risen by 503 to 140,734. On Tuesday, the country reported 708 new cases.

A total of 21,071 coronavirus patients remain in hospitals (compared to 23,983 a week ago). Another 543 people have been admitted to hospitals in the past 24 hours (compared to 833 a week ago).

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Lifting coronavirus restrictions while the case count is still high could lead to the renewed massive transmission of the virus and another lockdown, Executive Director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme Michael J. Ryan said Wednesday.

"If you can get the day-to-day number to the lowest possible level and get as much virus out of the community as possible, then when you open, you will tend to have less transmission or much less risk. If you reopen in the presence of high degree of virus transmission, then that transmission may accelerate. If that virus transmission accelerates, and you don't have the systems to detect it, it will be days or weeks before you know something's gone wrong, And by the time that happens, you're back into a situation where your only response is another lockdown," Ryan told a press conference.

"I think what we all fear is a vicious cycle of public health disaster followed by economic disaster and then health disaster [again]," Ryan said.

In response to a journalist's question regarding the resumption of international travel and the desire of countries to reopen their borders, the health official stated that subregional travel in personal motor vehicles offered the lowest risk of further transmission.

"Obviously, crossing a land border in itself doesn’t present a tremendous amount of risk because the conveyance is usually a car so it's a person moving from one zone to the other. I think a lot of countries are now looking at risk and response equalization ... If a person from a country that is managing risk well and managing response well can move between countries than you're not adding extra risk by moving your citizens between the countries," Ryan remarked.

He noted that some groups of countries, such as the Baltic states, Australia and New Zealand, and ASEAN countries, were looking to reestablish limited subregional travel.

"I think that's maybe how travel and trade would return. I am not an economist or futurist, but I think you're going to see countries in the same subregions or regions, particularly those with land borders or strong, traditional trading or historical links going to look for ways to equalize the risk, bring their responses into line so that they have confidence of their communities that the risk in that country and the response in that country are very similar to what we have here and therefore we can move our citizens between. That is going to take time, but I sense that's the way it is going to happen," the health official said.

The resumption of international air travel, due to the distances involved and the nature of flying, presents the greatest risk of further transmission, Ryan added. The WHO is currently working with the International Air Transport Association to develop a new set of guidelines and measures that can be introduced at all stages of the air travel process, he remarked.

Earlier in the day, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany was hoping that all temporary border restrictions in Europe's visa-free Schengen Area would be removed by June 15.

NEW YORK, May 13 (Sputnik) - Only 12.2 percent of health care workers in New York City tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, which means they had previously been infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), compared to 19.9 positivity rate among regular city residents, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

"We have been doing [antibody] testing of the essential workers to see if we have a problem anywhere, and good news has been the frontline workers are testing at lower rates than the general population," Cuomo said. "The health care workers - 12.2 percent. That's compared to New York City, where about 19.9 percent of the general population [have tested positive]."

Cuomo noted that the New York City Police Department officers also had a significantly lower percentage of the infection - 10.5 percent, similar to transit workers, 14.2 percent of whom tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.

On the statewide level, only 3.1 percent of 2,750 New York State Police officers surveyed tested positive, compared to 12.3 percent of the general population.

Authorities also sampled over 3,000 workers at the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, and only 7.5 percent had the COVID-19 antibodies, Cuomo added.

The governor said that the highest rate of infection among frontline workers - 17.1 percent - was detected in the New York City Fire Department members and emergency medical technicians.

According to Cuomo, the numbers could be explained by the fact that essential workers use Personal Protective Equipment while on duty, including gloves, face masks and surgical gowns, and it effectively prevents them from contracting the virus.

MOSCOW, May 13 (Sputnik) - It is hard to predict when the humankind will win over the coronavirus, it may become a virus like HIV, Executive Director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme Michael J. Ryan said Wednesday.

"We have a new virus entering the human population for the first time. Therefore it's very hard to predict when we prevail over it ... I think it's important to put this on the table - this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away. HIV has not gone away, but we've come to terms with virus, and we've found the therapies and we've found the prevention methods. And people don't feel as scared as they did before. We're offering life to people with HIV, long, healthy lives. I'm not comparing the two diseases, but I think that it is important that we're realistic," Ryan said.

The US national capital area has registered a spike of new novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases after several days of decline, local officials said on Wednesday.

Washington and the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia jointly reported 1,796 new positive tests in 24 hours, compared with 1,514 cases on Tuesday. The overall case total exceeded 68,000, while the death toll reached 2,971.

Maryland registered more than half of both regional cases and fatalities related to the COVID-19. Governor Spokesperson Kata Hall said the state added 751 cases since yesterday while the number of deaths has reached 1,694.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser reported 99 new cases and 14 fatalities. The city now has 6,584 cases and 350 deaths.

Virginia to date has registered 26,746 cases and 927 deaths, adding 946 cases and 36 fatalities in the past 24 hours.

YOĞUN BAKIMDAKİ HASTA SAYIMIZ İLK KEZ 1.000’in altına düştü. İyileşen hasta sayımız 100.000’i aştı. Toplam test sayımız yaklaşık 1,5 milyon. Virüse karşı asıl gücümüz:
Maske + 1,5 Metre Sosyal Mesafe. Risk, en çok kalabalık ortamlarda. Uzak duralım. https://t.co/RVlhe7786O pic.twitter.com/8Ywihrmq5V

— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) May 13, 2020

The existing stay-at-home order for Washington residents has been extended until June 8 due to the coronavirus disease (COIVD-19) outbreak, a situational update released on Mayor Muriel Bowser’s website revealed on Wednesday.

"The District [of Columbia]’s stay-at-home order is extended through June 8, 2020," the situational update said.

The original stay-at-home order was set to expire on May 15.

Bowser during a press briefing said she could extend the order beyond June 8 based on the data.

"Hopefully we will not have to [do this]," she said.

The mayor urged residents to stay at home as much as possible. Rushing to reopen the economy will have tragic results, she said.

For reopening its economy, the US capital is looking for 14-days of sustained decrease in community spread of new COVID-19 cases.

“Today we are at 4 days,” Bowser said.

Israel's number of confirmed coronavirus cases has grown by just 10 to 16,539 overnight, as the number of new infections continues to decline, the country’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The country saw four coronavirus-related fatalities over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 262.

Meanwhile, the recovery tally has risen by 90 to 12,173 since Tuesday evening, according to the ministry’s report.

As of Wednesday, the number of active cases in Israel amounts to 4,104, with 61 patients in critical condition. Of those, 51 are being treated via lung ventilators.

On Monday, the Israeli government lifted the ban on visiting parks and allowed foreign arrivals to self-quarantine at home.

Given the epidemiological situation, Israel has eased its lockdown restrictions by reopening stores that sell electronics and household goods. People are currently allowed to do sports outside and visit their friends and relatives. The country has also reopened barbershops, beauty salons and shops.

Lesotho has confirmed its first coronavirus infection in a person who arrived from the Middle Eastern region, becoming the last African nation to do so, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

Lesotho, a small kingdom enclaved within the borders of South Africa — the epicenter of the pandemic in Africa, with 11,350 cases as of Tuesday — was the last coronavirus-free nation among fully sovereign countries on the continent. Meanwhile, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a partially recognized political entity in Western Sahara, remains virus-free.

“The Ministry of Health informs the Basotho nation [the ethnic group which represents 99 percent of Lesotho’s population] and the entire Community living in Lesotho, that the country has the first confirmed case of COVID-19,” the ministry said in a press release.

At the same time, the country’s COVID-19 Response Center tweeted that the case was confirmed on Tuesday, and the carrier had arrived from the Middle East. According to the health authorities, 81 people with a recent travel history to Saudi Arabia and South Africa were tested for COVID-19 last week.

North Korea, Turkmenistan and 10 island nations in Oceania remain the only areas with no officially confirmed coronavirus cases.

Governments across the world must take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among prison populations by reducing overcrowding and ensuring that inmates have access to medical facilities, the leaders of four United Nations organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO)'s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

“We, the leaders of global health, human rights and development institutions, come together to urgently draw the attention of political leaders to the heightened vulnerability of prisoners and other people deprived of liberty to the COVID-19 pandemic, and urge them to take all appropriate public health measures in respect of this vulnerable population that is part of our communities,” the statement, which was also signed by the leaders of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, and Office of the UN Higher Commissioner for Human Rights, read.

The public health measures proposed by the UN organizations call for the reduction of overcrowding in prisons by limiting custodial sentences and pretrial detention, ensuring prisoners’ access to high-quality medical care, the upholding of human rights legislation and adherence to United Nations rules and guidance, according to the statement.

All the aforementioned UN organizations are ready to provide immediate support for the implementation of all the proposed measures, the statement said.

The number of Canadians who have contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) increased to 71,486 on Wednesday, Public Health Agency data revealed.

The COVID-19-related death toll rose by 3 percent to 5,209, the data also showed.

The province of Quebec remains the epicenter of the outbreak in Canada, accounting for more than half of all confirmed cases - 39,225 - and 3,131 deaths.

Ontario trails with 21,236 confirmed cases and 1,765 disease-related fatalities, with the rest of the provinces being spared the worst of the pandemic.

Poland has extended the closure of its borders in light of the coronavirus pandemic until June 12, the Polish Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday.

Poland initially closed its borders in response to the spread of the coronavirus infection in mid-March until May 3. On April 29, the ban was extended for 10 more days.

"Border control on the internal and external borders with the EU countries have been extended for another 30 days, until June 12," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, there are 42 designated points for crossing into the European Union by land, including 18 on the border with the Czech Republic, five with Slovakia, 16 with Germany and three with Lithuania. Aside from these countries, Poland also shares a border with Belarus and Ukraine.

Controls have also been kept in four sea ports and 17 airports, the ministry said.

Entry to the country remains open to nationals and foreigners who are next of kin to or dependents of Polish nationals, as well as permanent residents of Poland, diplomats and their family members.

Spain has confirmed 184 new fatalities over the past 24 hours amid the overall slowing of the COVID-19 spreading, bringing the overall death toll to 27,104, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Spain registered 176 coronavirus-related deaths.

Meanwhile, 439 (426 on Tuesday) new cases were detected, taking the overall tally to 228,691. At the same time, the country confirmed 1,843 new recoveries over the given period, bringing the total to 140,823.

At the moment, there are 60,764 COVID-19 carriers in Spain, down from 62,130 a day ago.

Spain started to gradually ease the lockdown this week, and the authorities aim to end the restrictions in late June. Nonetheless, a state of high alert is in place until May 24.

The daily increase in the number of coronavirus infection cases in Iran has for the first time in weeks climbed back to near the watershed level of 2,000, the spokesman for the Iranian Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

"Over the past day, 1,958 cases of the coronavirus infection were verified in all of Iran, which indicates a relative increase in the number of new cases. The total case count has grown to 112,725," Kianush Jahanpur said in a situation report, as broadcast by the IRINN YB channel.

The death toll from COVID-19 in Iran has increased by 50 to a cumulative total of 6,783 fatalities, the spokesman said.

A total of 89,428 people have recovered from COVID-19 in Iran since 19 February, when the first cases were detected in the country, he said.

The number of new cases has been consistently below 2,000 per day in Iran, with the exception of 2 May when only 802 new cases were detected. The current reported figure is almost a 30 percent spike from the level of Tuesday, when 1,481 cases were confirmed in 24 hours.

The daily increase in the number of fatalities has recently also been consistent in Iran, with an average of 50 deaths per one day.

The daily coronavirus infection rate in Qatar has slightly dropped by 136 to 1,390 since the day before, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, adding that the COVID-19 tally now stood at 26,539.

"The Ministry of Public Health announces 1,390 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 124 recovered cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recovered cases in the State of Qatar to 3,143," the ministry said in an official statement.

According to the ministry, the death toll stands at 14.

Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry said on Wednesday that it had registered 751 coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, which is a moderate decline compared to Tuesday’s tally of new confirmed cases. The total number of COVID-19 patients has reached 11,028, with 82 disease-related fatalities and 3,263 recoveries.

A decrease in the number of new COVID-19 cases in Belgium represents an encouraging trend, the Belgian Health Ministry’s crisis response center said on Wednesday, adding that the daily infection rate in the country had fallen by 128 to 202 since the day before, with the total count reaching 53,981.

"Trends remain encouraging," the crisis response center stated.

According to the authorities, a total of 70 patients were hospitalized over the past day, while on Tuesday the figure was 43. The death toll rose by 82, compared to 60 new fatalities the day before, and the overall number of related deaths is now at 8,843.

The number of patients in intensive care units decreased from 465 to 420, and 205 recovered patients were discharged.

The center stressed that despite the fact that the intensity of the outbreak in Belgium was decreasing, it was necessary to continue observing social distancing rules and wearing protective masks.

Belgium started relaxing a number of restrictive measures enforced in March to curb the spread of the disease on 4 May, reopening some companies and shops, providing that the staff do not have any direct contact with clients.

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Uzbekistan has increased by only 21 over the past 24 hours, marking a dramatic decrease from the previous daily records and bringing the country's tally to 2,568, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the country confirmed 61 new cases of the disease, with 68 infections being recorded on Monday and 69 on Sunday.

"As of May 13, 2020, 10:00 [local time, 05:00 GMT], Uzbekistan's total number of infections is 2,568," the ministry wrote on its Telegram channel.

The death toll stands at 10.

In a bid to curb the pandemic, the authorities introduced stringent self-isolation measures on April 1, which were then eased by the end of the month. Citizens have recently been allowed to take short walks and use personal vehicles for travel to work, stores, pharmacies and hospitals.

In neighboring Kyrgyzstan, the number of COVID-19 cases has reached 1,044, with seven cases being recorded over the past day. Meanwhile, 726 patients have recovered, with 17 of them discharged over the past 24 hours, and 12 others have died. Of those infected, 241 are health care workers.

In Ukraine, another post-Soviet state, 402 new COVID-19 cases and 14 additional fatalities have been registered, bringing the country's tally of confirmed cases to 16,425 and the death toll to 439.

At the same time, the country has registered a record 343 recoveries, with the total number of cured patients reaching 3,716.

Of those infected, more than 3,200 are health care workers, and 94 more have tested positive over the past 24 hours.

The Japanese authorities are planning to lift the state of emergency introduced in the country to curb the coronavirus pandemic in 39 least hit prefectures, media reported on Wednesday.

According to the Kyodo news agency, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to decide on the final number of prefectures that will remain under the special alert based on their infection case tallies on Thursday.

Hokkaido, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Osaka and Hyogo are among the worst-affected prefectures in Japan, therefore the state of emergency there will most likely not be lifted, unlike in Aichi, Kyoto and Fukuoka, the news agency added.

Japan declared the state of emergency in early April in seven prefectures and extended it to the rest of the country on April 16. The regime was prolonged on May 6. The government decided to extend the state of emergency despite the fact that the epidemiological situation in Japan appeared to be improving.

At the moment, there are almost 16,000 active cases and 657 deaths in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Oman’s daily number of COVID-19 cases has risen by 150 to 298 over the past 24 hours, the country’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday, adding that the total number of COVID-19 patients has reached 4,016.

"The Ministry of Health (MOH) announces the registration of (298) new confirmed cases with Coronavirus (COVID-19). (89) of the new cases are Omanis and (209) for non-Omanis, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Sultanate to (4019)," the ministry said in an official statement published on Twitter.

According to the ministry, the death toll stands at 17 cases, while the tally of recoveries has risen by 39 to 1,289.

The ministry reiterates its call on the country’s citizens to strictly adhere to precautionary measures, including self-isolation and social distancing, issued by the Health Ministry and the national Supreme Committee for fighting COVID-19.

Germany will switch to selective checks on the border with Austria, Switzerland, and France on Saturday, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Wednesday.

"The control will be relaxed at all areas on the border with France, Switzerland and Austria on May 16. All checkpoints will be opened, the number of open checkpoints was reduced in the last few weeks to ensure control ... The control will be selective rather than systematic. This is important, this is what the current situation with pandemic allows us to do, to be able to do selective checks," Seehofer said.

A new wave of coronavirus infections in South Korea, linked to the reopening of nightclubs in the Seoul neighborhood of Itaewon, surged to 119 new cases across the country over a day, media reported on Wednesday.

A spike of infections has recently been recorded and is believed to be linked to a 29-year-old man who visited several clubs in Itaewon, and later tested positive for COVID-19. On May 9, health authorities recorded 18 new cases of the disease, 17 of them linked to the clubber. On 10-11 May the daily increase was 34 and 35 cases respectively. On Saturday, the authorities of Seoul closed bars and clubs in the city due to the new spike.

According to the Yonhap news agency, citing Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, 69 of 119 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the capital alone.

A total of 14,121 people have been tested for coronavirus, the media outlet added.

"(Containing) contagious diseases is a matter of speed. Voluntary screening is more important than anything. Please get checked immediately if you visited clubs in Itaewon between 24 April and 6 May," Park was quoted as saying by the media outlet.

According to the Health Ministry's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), the total number of COVID-19 cases in South Korea has reached 10,962 and the death toll stands at 259. Almost 9,700 patients have recovered.

Russia has registered 10,028 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours (10,899 yesterday), with the total count now reaching 242,271, the national coronavirus response center said on Wednesday.

"Over the past 24 hours, 10,028 COVID-19 cases have been registered in 83 regions. Of these, 4,461 (or 44.5 percent) have been detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the center said in a statement.

This brings the total tally to 242,271 (+4.3 percent) in 85 regions across Russia.

Moscow, which accounts for the largest share of the country's daily increase, has recorded less than 5,000 new cases in 24 hours for the first time since1 May.

Of all the new cases, 4,703 have been registered in Moscow, 962 in Moscow region and 435 in St. Petersburg (compared to yesterday's 5,392, 1,063 and 339, respectively.)

The country's COVID-19 death toll has increased by 96 (107 yesterday) to 2,212.

As many as 4,491 COVID-19 patients have recovered in Russia over the past 24 hours (3,711 yesterday), bringing the total number of cured people to 48,003.

The Austrian authorities decided to reopen on 15 June the border with Germany, which was shut down for travelers over the COVID-19 pandemic, Austrian Tourism Minister Elisabeth Kostinger said on Wednesday.

The border control between Austria and Germany was introduced on March 19 and then extended until 31 May.

"From 15 June, it will be possible to open the border between Germany and Austria," the minister told the ORF radio station.

According to Kostinger, on Tuesday, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, agreed on a two-stage plan for opening the border with the partial easing of the border control would begin this week.

Germany, with 171,306 confirmed cases, 7,634 deaths and over 148,000 recoveries, went into COVID-19 lockdown in mid-March and has been easing restrictions since late April, as the daily increase in new patients is decreasing. Meanwhile, the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in Austria started on 14 April. The country has 15,910 confirmed cases, 623 deaths and 14,148 recoveries.  

The eighth plane of the Russian aerospace forces with servicemen who helped Italy to combat the coronavirus pandemic has returned to the homeland, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

"The eighth Il-76 aircraft of the Russian aerospace forces with military personnel and special military equipment from the combined detachment of the Russian Defense Ministry, which performed tasks to assist in the fight against the coronavirus infection in the Italian Republic, arrived at Chkalovsky airfield (Moscow region)," the ministry said.

It added that all arrived servicemen had their body temperature scanned as well as mandatory sanitary and epidemiological measures were taken.

Mexico's number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has reached 38,324 - up 1,997, or 5.5 percent from the previous day's 36,327, the Mexican Health Ministry's director of epidemiology, Jose Luis Alomia, said at a regular press conference.

Alomia said the death count had risen by 353 over the past 24 hours to 3,926 - an increase by nearly 10 percent from 3,573.

The day before, the number of deaths rose by 108, and the case tally by 1,305.

The Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute, which compiles national coronavirus statistics, reported on Wednesday that Germany's daily number of new COVID-19 cases dropped by 135 to 798 since the day before, bringing the total count to 171,306 as the country continues to partially relax virus-related restrictions.

The death toll from coronavirus in the European nation has grown by 101 (116 yesterday) over the given period, with the number of fatalities recorded since the beginning of the outbreak reaching 7,634.

A total of over 148,000 COVID-19 patients have recovered in Germany.

Bavaria accounts for the highest number of coronavirus cases (44,802) in the country, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (35,555) and Baden-Wurttemberg (33,518). The German capital of Berlin has recorded 6,298 COVID-19 cases.

Germany went into COVID-19 lockdown in mid-March and has been easing restrictions since late April. At the same time, the country extended social distancing until June 5 to preserve the progress made during the first phase of lockdown easing.

China reported seven new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours, up from one case the day before, with 18 recoveries and no deaths.

The country's state health committee said six of the new cases were local and were detected in the province of Jilin, whereas the remaining one was imported and was registered in Shanghai.

China also recorded eight new asymptomatic cases over the past day, compared to 15 the day before.

Overall, the state health committee said, the country's case tally stands at 82,926, with 4,633 deaths and 78,189 recoveries.