COVID-19 Live Updates: WHO Sending Investigators to China to Probe Origins of Virus

LA PAZ (Sputnik) - Nearly 1,000 police and military personnel in Bolivia have contracted the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), both departments said.

"We have 527 police officers who, unfortunately, have showed positive results for the coronavirus," Wilson Santamaria, deputy minister of public security, told reporters.

Most police officers serve in the Santa Cruz department.

The Defense Ministry reported 457 cases.

Bolivia has 31,524 cases of coronavirus, with 1,014 deaths and 8,517 recoveries.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is unable to say with certainty how will the global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic look like but the current rebound across the world is weaker than desired, IMF Research Director Gita Gopinath said.

"There is still tremendous uncertainty about what the path of recovery would look like," Gopinath told a live-stream event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Monday.

Gopinath said a slower recovery is coming up, especially with the major commodity exporters, after the big drop in oil prices and demand for travel.

"We’ve recovered from the March and April lows, but still the path for oil that we are projecting is lower than projected before this crisis. And so, these countries are going to have a much weaker recovery relative to other countries," Gopinath said.

Gopinath also said that the IMF’s G20 debt relief initiative for the poorest countries will likely need to be extended beyond the end of this year.

Last week, the IMF slashed its already gloomy growth projections for the United States and other developed countries in 2020, saying it expected the global economy to contract by 4.9 percent this year.

The IMF said the global economy will take a $12 trillion hit from the novel coronavirus pandemic, adding that it could take two years for world output to return to 2019 levels.

NEW YORK (Sputnik) - New York City is reconsidering plans to allow indoor dining amid the increasing number of novel coronavirus cases in recent days linked to visits to restaurants and bars, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

"We’ve seen COVID-19 outbreaks in other states linked to indoor bars and restaurants," de Blasio said via Twitter on Monday. "We’ve come too far in this fight to throw that progress away. We’re re-examining plans to restart indoor dining here in New York City."

As of Monday, New York has reported a total of 216,461 novel coronavirus cases and 23,077 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

De Blasio has triggered anger on social media by announcing that New Yorkers can now report residents for violating social distancing rules, imposed in the city amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow has registered 35 deaths of patients with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours - up from yesterday's 23 - bringing the Russian capital's death toll to 3,796, the city's coronavirus response center said in a statement.

"A total of 35 patients who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection have died in Moscow," the center said.

The day before, 23 people died from COVID-19 in Moscow, bringing the number of deaths to 3,761.

Russia's overall number of recorded coronavirus cases has topped 641,000. The country's COVID-19 death toll is over 9,100. More than 403,000 people have recovered.

Moscow's case tally currently exceeds 220,000, with over 148,000 recoveries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus a pandemic on 11 March.

According to the WHO, the global coronavirus death toll has surpassed 499,000 people, with the number of cases worldwide exceeding 10 million.

In line with Johns Hopkins University's data, the global case tally tops 10.1 million, with over 502,000 deaths and more than 5.1 million recoveries.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Some 2,600 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state of California's prison system including more than 1,000 at San Quentin, Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters.

"California Correctional System has 2,589 individuals that have tested positive," Newsom said on Monday. "In San Quentin we currently have 1,011 individual inmates that have tested positive."

The governor noted that the entire correctional system has around 113,000 inmates.

Newsom announced on Sunday that bars in the state are being closed amid a rise in the number of coronavirus cases. The governor reminded California residents they are required to wear face masks in public spaces, pointing to the fact that many people are seen with faces uncovered.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Indian Health Ministry's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has approved human clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine called COVAXIN to be launched nationwide next month, Bharat Biotech, the company that has developed the vaccine, said on Monday.

"CDSCO, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare granted permission to initiate Phase I & II Human clinical trials after the company submitted results generated from preclinical studies, demonstrating safety and immune response," the company said in a press release obtained by Sputnik.

Trials are scheduled to start across India in July, as stated in the press release.

COVAXIN, which is India's first candidate vaccine for COVID-19, has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology affiliated to the government's Council of Medical Research, according to the press release.

As of Monday, Indian health authorities have reported a total of 548,318 cases, including 16,475 fatalities and 321,722 recoveries.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US state of New Jersey has put on hold its plan to relax COVID-19 restrictions and permit indoor dining at restaurants as the number of recorded pandemic cases surges again across the United States, Governor Phil Murphy said on Monday.

"We had planned to loosen restrictions this week," Murphy said in a Twitter message. "However, after COVID19 spikes in other states driven by, in part, the return of indoor dining, we have decided to postpone indoor dining indefinitely."

The people of New Jersey had enjoyed great success in practicing social distancing and keeping the infection curve of the COVID-19 virus low and putting it into decline, but it was too early to relax precautions and allow the disease to rebound, Murphy warned.

"We cannot let up. We have to keep pulling together. We have to keep up with our commonsense practices. This war is not over. We are still fighting. We cannot fall into complacency," he said.

As of Monday, New Jersey, a state with a population of 17 million people, had recorded 171,182 cases of COVID-19, including 14,975 fatalities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Finnish authorities are exploring possibilities to join an alliance of four European Union member states to secure access to COVID-19 vaccines once it is available, media reported, citing an official from the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Paivi Sillanaukee.

Earlier in June, the European countries formed a group, which includes France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, and made a deal with UK drug maker AstraZeneca to buy 400 millions doses of the future COVID-19 vaccine it is currently working on.

According to Sillanaukee, it is essential for Finland to get a vaccine at the same time as other countries, the Yle News outlet reported. Moreover, the official noted that the possibility of joining the EU alliance was just one of several options Finland had been considering for acquiring a possible vaccine.

In late May, AstraZeneca announced that it had received more than $1 billion from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for the development, production, and delivery of a vaccine against COVID-19 that is being produced by the University of Oxford.

Finland has so far confirmed over 7,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 300 related deaths. Meanwhile, the number of recoveries is at 6,600.

DOHA (Sputnik) - Saudi Arabia has registered almost 4,000 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, and the overall tally has now surpassed 186,000, the country’s Health Ministry said on Monday.

"Over the past 24 hours, 3,943 new coronavirus cases were confirmed, and the total number of cases reached 186,436," the ministry tweeted.

Moreover, the kingdom registered 48 new COVID-19 fatalities on Monday, taking the overall death toll to 1,599. At the same time, the number of recovered has surpassed 128,000.

On 17 June, Saudi Arabia confirmed record 4,919 new cases. The infection rate has slowed in the second half of the month to less than 3,200 cases a day but has been on the rise again since late June.

Saudi Arabia has banned foreigners from visiting the country for Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, this year amid the ongoing health crisis.

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Bolivian Health Minister Eydi Roca said on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak in the country had reached the stage of rapid growth after health authorities detected record spikes in new cases over the weekend.

"It is important that Bolivia's population knows that we enter the phase of COVID-19 rapid growth. This necessitates the adoption of measures that can help us minimize the impact of this acceleration on public health to the highest possible extent," Roca said in a video address.

Health authorities in Bolivia have so far confirmed 31,524 coronavirus cases, including 1,014 fatalities.

Almost 22,000 people were diagnosed in the past two weeks alone. The past weekend saw the toll increase by over 2,000 cases, with Saturday's increment of 1,245 cases being the record high since the outbreak in the country began three months ago.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - The Belgian flag carrier Brussels Airlines announced on Monday in a press release that it decided to postpone until August resuming its long-haul operations previously suspended over the COVID-19 pandemic.

In late May, the company said that it planned to partially resume flights from 15 June, while the ban on long-haul flights was expected to be lifted in late June.

"Following the extension of travel restrictions outside of Europe, the relaunch of the Belgian airline’s long-haul operations has been delayed and is now planned for August and remains subject to governmental approval. On top of the long-haul destinations that were planned to launch as communicated in May, the airline also aims to add Freetown to its network in August," the press release stated.

The company also stated that it completed a flight schedule for September and October. During these months, the carrier will operate 45 percent of its normal schedule with 27 aircraft.

The Brussels Airlines, which operated flights to more than 80 destinations around the world, had suspended all flights on 21 March as part of measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic in Europe. Due to financial difficulties, the company decided to reduce the number of its employees by a quarter, as well as cut the fleet and the number of flights.

"[The results] convincingly rule out any meaningful mortality benefit of lopinavir-ritonavir in the hospitalised COVID-19 patients we studied", University of Oxford scientists said.

NEW YORK (Sputnik) - Theatres in New York will remain closed for the rest of the year due to concerns over the coronavirus, the Broadway League announced on Monday, adding that it was refunding tickets for performances through January as it tries to figure out ways to reopen safely.

“Broadway performances in New York City will be suspended through the remainder of 2020 due to COVID-19”, the league said in a statement. “The Broadway League continues to work with city and state officials as well as leaders in science, technology, and medicine to formulate the best plan to restart the industry.”

Performances should resume early next year, and tickets for next winter and spring were scheduled to go on sale in the coming weeks, the league said.

It said safety logistics being reviewed for both audience members and employees now include screening and testing, cleaning and sanitising, wayfinding inside theaters and backstage protocols.

"The Broadway experience can be deeply personal but it is also, crucially, communal", league chairman Thomas Schumacher said in the statement.  "The alchemy of 1,000 strangers bonding into a single audience fueling each performer on stage and behind the scenes will be possible again when Broadway theaters can safely host full houses.”

The lights went out on Broadway on 12 March as the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States accelerated, particularly in New York. The intensity of the pandemic appeared to lessen by early May after business lockdowns and stringent enforcement of social distancing in most of the 50 US states. As economies across the country reopened over the past two months, infection rates have climbed again, with total cases now reaching more than 2.6 million, while deaths have climbed to over 128,000.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - South Korea is planning to allocate 36 billion won ($29.9 million) in 2020 to finance a new programme aimed at helping developing countries combat the coronavirus pandemic and supporting their efforts for sustainable development, the Yonhap news agency reported on Monday, citing the country's Foreign Ministry.

According to the news agency, the official development assistance (ODA) program is set to strengthen Seoul's humanitarian support for the developing countries and cooperation with them in the field of health care by implementing various projects, including those improving medical facilities in these counties and ensuring stable supplies of goods amid quarantine.

Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, Colombia, Vietnam and Cambodia have been chosen to be beneficiaries of the ODA program, proceeding from "the comprehensive considerations of its policy priorities, the needs to strengthen their health care capacity and bilateral relations."

The ministry is planning to implement the program together with the Health Ministry, the International Cooperation Agency and Korea Foundation for International Healthcare, Yonhap added.

Cinemas across Russia will resume operation on 15 July, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said on Monday.

"Here are some good news, cinemas will open on 15 July," Chernyshenko said at talks between Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and his deputies.

The Russian Ministry of Culture has recommended suspending the operation of cinemas, theaters, museums and circuses starting 23 March due to the spreading of the coronavirus. As the epidemiological situation in the country is improving, restrictions are being lifted gradually.

Russia has registered 6,719 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours (6,791 yesterday), bringing the cumulative toll to 641,156, the country's coronavirus response center said on Monday.

"Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 6,719 COVID-19 cases in 83 regions, of which 2,123 (31.6 percent) have been detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the response center said in a statement, adding that the total count has grown to 641,156 cases in 85 regions, with the daily increase standing at 1.1 percent.

Of all the newly detected cases, 782 have been confirmed in Moscow, 335 in the Moscow Region and 277 in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area (compared to yesterday's 717, 325 and 285, respectively).

The country's COVID-19 death toll has grown by 93 (104 yesterday) to 9,166.

The total number of recoveries has topped 400,000, as it now amounts to 403,430 after increasing by 4,343 in the past 24 hours (5,735 yesterday).

According to the Russian public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, over 19.3 million tests to detect COVID-19 have been conducted in the country since the beginning of the outbreak, and 297,000 suspected virus carriers remain under medical monitoring.

Sri Lanka will need Russia’s help in gaining access to the vaccine against the COVID-19 pandemic, which is currently being developed by Moscow, the country’s new Ambassador to Russia, Prof. M.D. Lamawansa, said in his first interview since being appointed.

On Tuesday, the Russian Health Ministry's Sechenov University announced administering a vaccine against COVID-19 to a second group of 20 volunteers. On the same day, the Russian Defence Ministry announced the vaccination of a second group of volunteers at the Acad. N.N.Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital.

"Although we have managed to do well with the pandemic so far, we will require assistance from Russia especially in vaccination. When it comes to the stage that Russia is ready to commence producing vaccine in mass scale, Sri Lanka will approach for assistance," Lamawansa said.

Russia has supported Sri Lanka during the pandemic by buying even more tea produced by the island, the ambassador noted, and he went on to laud Russia’s approach to dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak.

"As a medical professional I can say that Russia took several meaningful steps to curb the COVID-19 and consequently and very importantly your death rate is very low. Russia has achieved something remarkable and I know how difficult it is for the medical staff under difficult and restrained conditions to achieve such impressive results," Lamawansa said.

As the world keeps struggling against the pandemic, multiple countries are working on vaccines to prevent it from spreading further.

"I think the prime minister has been asleep at the wheel, he has been slow, the comms, the communications has been terrible," Starmer told ITV. "It began to break down frankly when Dominic Cummings put forward a ridiculous defence of what he had done in the north east."

India has confirmed record 19,400 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, which brings the total number of those infected to 548,318, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday.

The death toll from the disease has reached 16,475, with 380 new fatalities being recorded over the past day. A total of 210, 120 patients have recovered.

India's central state of Maharashtra, with confirmed 164,626 cases, remains the most affected region. It is followed by the National Capital Territory of Delhi, with 83,077 cases, and the southern state of Tamil Nadu, with 82,275 cases.

Despite the growing number of cases, the government has begun lifting restrictions in some parts of the country with low infection rates earlier this month, allowing places of worship, shopping centers and restaurants to open in the first phase. Lockdowns are still in places in regions deemed "red zones" where the infection rates are still high at least until 30 June.

India comes fourth in terms of the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, following the United States, Brazil and Russia.