At the moment, the global death toll from the virus has reached 338,183. The US tops the list with over 96,000 fatalities, followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France. New York remains the city hardest hit by the pandemic, with almost 200,000 infected and 21,086 deaths from COVID-19.
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We lost 84 New Yorkers to COVID-19 yesterday. By any normal standard this is a hideous number. But we are thankful this number has fallen below 100 for the first time since late March.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 23, 2020
"A 77-year-old woman with COVID-19 died in a hospital in the Rafah Border Crossing, she has recently returned to Gaza from Egypt", Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra said.
The Palestinian Authority has confirmed 55 COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic. Thirty-nine of them remain under quarantine, while sixteen people have recovered, according to the official. The number of deaths from COVID-19 across the Palestinian Authority now stands at four.
MADRID (Sputnik) - Spain will declare a ten-day mourning period starting Tuesday for those who have perished from the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday, as the country eases its coronavirus restrictions.
"We have stopped the worst calamity of the century. The task of restoring our country lies ahead. The government will adopt an official statement on a mourning period starting Tuesday. The mourning will last for ten days. Flags will be lowered on all state buildings and naval vessels. With this mourning period, we want to show our recognition of all victims [of COVID-19]", Sanchez said during a press conference.
Spain has confirmed a total of 234,824 cases, with a death toll of 28,628.
"We have detected 3,982 cases of the coronavirus in Azerbaijan to date, with 2,506 people having recovered, 49 people having passed away, [and] 1,427 people continuing to receive treatment in specialised clinics", the centre said in a statement.
On Friday, the overall tally increased by 106.
On 1 May, the authorities have extended the quarantine against COVID-19 until the end of the month.
"From this coming 1st June, the Vatican Museums will once again open their doors to the public, after the long months of health crisis due to the COVID-19 infection", the Vatican Museums' website said.
Museums will work from 10:00 to 20:00 local time (from 08:00 to 18:00 GMT) from Monday to Thursday, and until 22:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
The museums will follow social distancing and hygiene measures, including temperature measuring at the entrance, the mandatory wearing of protective masks during the entire stay in museums. In addition, medical staff will be on duty in museums for possible assistance to visitors.
"Following the situation development in the Holy Land, we the Heads of the Three Communities, custodians of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre and Resurrection, wish to inform that starting on Sunday 24th this most Holy Place will be accessible again to the faithful for visits and prayers", Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III said, as quoted on the official website of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The patriarch added that for safety reasons, the number of people visiting the church would be limited to 50 at a time and that the Basilica would be open only to those who have no fever or other symptoms of COVID-19. People will also have to wear face masks, maintain a distance of 2 metres (six feet) from each other, and avoid touching or kissing sacred objects.
"Over the past 24 hours, 1,869 new cases of the coronavirus infection were registered. Overall, 133,521 people have been infected, however, 104,072 have fully recovered", Kianoush Jahanpour, spokesman for Iran's Health Ministry, told the IRINN TV channel.
Moreover, 59 COVID-19 carriers died over the given period, taking the death toll to 7,359 since the start of the outbreak.
Vuelven las competiciones profesionales.
— LaLiga (@LaLiga) May 23, 2020
Desde la semana del 8 de junio y gracias a la altura de miras de todas las partes involucradas en el ámbito deportivo, siempre bajo las indicaciones de @sanidadgob. #VolverEsGanar pic.twitter.com/4XkFAVJ4Fr
MOSCOW, (Sputnik) - Roszdravnadzor, Russia's healthcare watchdog, told Sputnik on Saturday that it was still examining a lung ventilation equipment model that could have caused deadly fires in hospitals treating COVID-19 patients in Moscow and St. Petersburg, also noting it was too early to come to any conclusions.
"Roszdravnadzor is still inspecting Aventa-M artificial ventilation machines, as well as performing technical tests, so it is premature to arrive at any conclusions", the service said in a statement.
On 9 May, a blaze broke out on the first floor of the treatment block of Moscow's City Clinical Hospital No. 50, resulting in one patient dying. A similar incident took place in St. Petersburg on 12 May, with a death toll of six. Both hospitals were treating patients with COVID-19 and had artificial lung ventilators, which are said to be a possible reason behind both fires.
Aventa-M lung ventilators are manufactured by Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies JSC (KRET), part of Russian state-owned high-tech conglomerate Rostec. After the fires, Roszdravnadzor suspended the use of all these devices manufactured after 1 April 2020.
COVID-19 Immunity Found in 12% of Over 50,000 Antibody Blood Test Participants in Moscow
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Over 50,000 Moscow residents have taken part in coronavirus antibody blood tests so far and coronavirus immunity was detected in 12 percent of these individuals, the head of the Moscow Healthcare Department, Alexei Khripun, said on Saturday.
On 15 May, Moscow launched mass random testing for COVID-19 antibodies. It is free and voluntary.
"Out of more than 50,000 tested Muscovites, lgG antibodies were detected in 12 percent. It means that these people are forming or have already formed the immunity to the coronavirus infection", Khripun said at a press conference.
The official noted that the results range from 11 percent in the southwest of the capital to more than 13 percent in the southeast.
In addition, Khripun said that authorities in Moscow were planning to test up to 6 million residents for coronavirus antibodies.
"The scope of the testing ranges from 3 to 6 million, this is, of course, a study unprecedented in scope”, Khripun added.
The official also said that an understanding of how population immunity is formed would help prepare for the next wave of the pandemic, which is likely to take place.
So far, Moscow has recorded 161,397 cases of the coronavirus with 3,190 of them registered over the past 24 hours. The death toll in the capital has reached 1,934, while as many as 47,413 patients have recovered from the disease.
BEIJING, May 23 (Sputnik) - Taiwanese scientists are planning to begin human trials for a potential vaccine against the coronavirus this fall, Vice President of Taiwan Lai Ching-te said.
The official on Friday visited a laboratory of the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) in the township of Zhunan in northern Miaoli County and talked to specialists who are directly involved in virus research and vaccine development.
"I visited the National Health Research Institutes and the vaccine manufacturing plant to understand what progress has been achieved at this stage in the research and development of a vaccine [against the coronavirus]. Human trials will be carried out this fall”, the vice president wrote on his Facebook.
