US COVID19 Cases Rise by Over 46,000, Highest Daily Increase Since Start of Pandemic – Reuters Tally

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Dominican Public Health Minister Rafael Sanchez Cardenas declared an epidemic in the country to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

"The decree stipulates the suspension of economic, social and entertainment events from 20:00 to 5:00 every day of the week, with the exception of some," Cardenas said as quoted by the Dia publication.

The current ban on commercial, cultural, artistic and sporting events at stadiums, in sports palaces, galleries and other crowded places, as well as the operation of casinos, bars and discos, remains.

The work of hotels and tourism sector enterprises will be preserved in compliance with new sanitary safety requirements.

The Dominican Republic has 32,658 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 747 deaths and 17,580 recoveries from the novel coronavirus.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States has approved four coronavirus vaccine candidates for clinical trials, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) head Stephen Hahn told reporters.

“Four vaccines have been approved for moving into clinical trials... and another six are in the pipeline for us to review,” Hahn said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

The US Administration launched in May Operation Warp Speed, a joint project of Health and Defense Departments, which aims to deliver 300 million doses of a vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021.

The country’s top pandemics expert Anthony Fauci warned on Tuesday, however, that there is no certainty the United States will be able to develop a vaccine against COVID-19 that works and will be safe.

Data on vaccine effectiveness, he added, may be available in the winter or early next year.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - European multinational aerospace corporation Airbus said in a statement it planned to further adapt to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and cut about 15,000 of its personnel across the world.

"Airbus has announced plans to adapt its global workforce and resize its commercial aircraft activity in response to the COVID-19 crisis," the company's statement said.

"This adaptation is expected to result in a reduction of around 15,000 positions no later than summer 2021. The information and consultation process with social partners has begun with a view to reaching agreements for implementation starting in autumn 2020," it said.

Airbus said that the commercial aircraft business activity had dropped by nearly 40 percent in recent months as the industry faced an unprecedented crisis.

BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - The unemployment in Chile in March-May has broken a 10-year record and plummeted to 11.2 percent due to restrictions imposed in the country to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Statistics Institute said on Tuesday.

"The unemployment rate in the country in March-May was 11.2 percent, which is an increase of four percentage points compared to the same period last year … This is the highest level since 2010," the institute said.

Moreover, the number of unemployed citizens who are not actively looking for job increased by 27.4 percent.

The strongest decline in employment was observed in the accommodation and food services sector, construction and trade that showed a decrease by 42.4, 23.1 and 19.4 percent, respectively.

Chile, which is among the hardest hit Latin American countries, has so far recorded nearly 280,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 5,600 related deaths. Meanwhile, about 241,000 people have recovered from the disease.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Thirty-five patients with coronavirus died in Moscow in the past 24 hours, increasing the death toll to 3,831, the response center of the Russian capital said Tuesday.

On Monday, the response center reported 35 deaths as well.

Earlier in the day, the response center reported 745 new coronavirus cases. In one week, the number of new cases has decreased by 31 percent, the officials said.

Moscow has recorded a total of 221,598 cases, 150,397 patients have recovered.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The United Nations on Tuesday launched a global campaign urging people to pause before spreading misinformation on COVID-19 pandemic via social media, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing.

"Today, the UN launched a global campaign called 'Pause' to stop the spread of harmful misinformation on COVID-19," Dujarric said.

The campaign, initiated on Social Media Day, aims to encourage people to carefully check data regarding the virus before posting it on public platforms.

Dujarric said the "Pause" advocates for a behavioral change to avoid the proliferation of misleading, emotionally charged and harmful content without taking time to question the accuracy.

TORONTO (Sputnik) - Canada is extending the ban on foreigners entering the country until 31 July due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) senior spokesperson Rebecca Purdy said in a statement to Sputnik on Tuesday.

Reports indicated earlier that the Canadian authorities extended the Minimizing the Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada order as well as the Quarantine Act, which mandates self-isolation of 14 days for persons entering into the country.

"I can confirm the Order has been extended," Purdy said. "This Order is in effect ending July 31, 2020."

Purdy explained that the CBSA has implemented travel restrictions across all ports of entry in all modes of transportation - land, sea, air and rail.

The order does not apply to US nationals with immediate family members residing in Canada, temporary foreign workers approved by the government and other select individuals, including diplomats and flight crews.

As of 25 March, Quarantine Act violators may be subject to a fine of up to $537,000 and/or imprisonment for six months.

Moreover, if a violator is found to have contributed to a risk of death of another individual, they can be subject to a fine of up to $720,000 and/or a prison term of three years.

In mid-March, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the government is halting the entry of most foreign citizens into Canada.

As of Monday, Canada’s public health agencies have reported more than 104,000 novel coronavirus cases and more than 8,500 virus-related fatalities.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement on Tuesday that he has issued an order requiring a 14-day self-quarantine for any visitor from 16 US states where the number of novel coronavirus cases is on the rise.

Cuomo said the list of states include Alabama, Arizona, California, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Cuomo noted that New York State has a total of 891 hospitalized patients due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Spain is successfully working on vaccines against COVID-19, and human clinical trials of one of them might start in a few months, Minister of Science and Innovation Pedro Duque said on Tuesday.

According to the minister, there are about 180 projects on COVID-19 vaccine development worldwide, while Spanish scientists are working on 12 of them, which are all funded from the state budget.

"Five of the 12 groups already have what is called candidate vaccines, and preclinical animal trials have already begun. One of the projects, in the framework of which a candidate vaccine was developed in late April, has completed animal trials stage and there is a lot of hope for this vaccine," the minister stated.

The minister added that human trials might start in 6-12 months.

"There is a chance that with all these tests completed, in 6-12 months we can start administering the vaccine to Spanish people … There is still a lot of research to be done, but we are optimistic that there will be a vaccine that will enter the Spanish health system when it is proven effective," he stated.

Duque also said that negotiations were already underway with a number of foreign companies that could purchase the Spanish vaccine if it was developed.

Men who have been infected with the coronavirus may face reduced fertility, the chief specialist in Pediatric Gynecology of the Russian Health Ministry, Elena Uvarova, said on Tuesday.

"By the way, today's infertility issues — especially male infertility — have manifested to a greater extent due to COVID-19. Data shows that the COVID-19 [results in] a sperm quality reduction of 38 percent," Uvarova said during a press conference at the Rossiya Segodnya news agency.

There has been a debate regarding the potential impact of COVID-19 on male fertility since the new coronavirus was first detected. Earlier in the month, researchers from the Tufts Medical Center in Boston and the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan published a study presenting an analysis of samples from 11 patients who died from COVID-19 in Wuhan and suggesting that the virus could harm tissues involved in sperm and testosterone production without actually infecting their cells.

The United States could see up to 100,000 new cases of coronavirus infections a day if social distancing and other measures are not enforced strictly, top US pandemics expert Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday.

“We are now having 40,000 plus cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to a hundred thousand a day if this does not turn around, and so I'm very concerned,” said Fauci, who heads the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Fauci cited images he had seen on television where people freely mingled without masks and safe distance between one another.

“We’re just going to tell you the most important thing you’re supposed to be doing within a community is wearing face masks and practicing social distancing. Outdoors are better than indoors. Congregating inside a bar is bad news," he said.

Thailand’s cabinet of ministers on Tuesday formally approved extending the coronavirus state of emergency until July 31, media reported.

A day prior, the Thai Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration proposed despite not registering any local transmissions in over a month, citing high levels of infections in different parts of the world, Bangkok Times reported.

Government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat explained that the emergency powers granted to the government were needed to restrict international travel and to track and quarantine people with suspected infections, the newspaper reported.

Thai schools are set to reopen on July 1 as part of the fifth phase of restrictions easing.

The country has so far registered 3,171 COVID-19 infections and 58 deaths from the disease while 3,056 have recovered.

The Houthi rebels are hiding the true scale of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, which is controlled by the movement, Hamzah Alkamaly, the Yemeni deputy minister for youth and sports, told Sputnik, calling on the Yemen's government to seek the assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO) in relation to the epidemiological situation in the country.

"In Sanaa, Houthis are unfortunately not announcing anything, they are not dealing with the cases, they are dealing with it as with security issue, and not as a health issue … [the government] should force the WHO and Doctors without borders [MSF] to handle the health situation in Sanaa, Houthis-controlled areas," Alkamaly said.

The deputy minister claimed that hundreds of people had been infected with the coronavirus in Houthi-controlled areas and dozens had died. The movement's official statistics only lists two COVID-19 cases.

The epidemiological situation in the government-controlled areas was better, Alkamaly went on to say, hailing the authorities for a transparent reporting. The official also recalled that the WHO and the Arab coalition had delivered humanitarian aid to the government.

The "safe" countries are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay, the European Council said.

Iran has reported 147 coronavirus-related fatalities over the last 24 hours, down from a record 162 on Monday, and more than 2,400 new COVID-19 cases, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Tuesday.

The overall COVID-19 death toll since the start of the outbreak has reached 10,817, and the case count amounted to 277,662, Lari said, as broadcast by the IRINN channel.

Meanwhile, the number of recoveries has reached 188,758.

In mid-June, Iran reported more than 100 coronavirus-related fatalities for the first time in two months. The country began to gradually ease the coronavirus-related lockdown in mid-April and since then, the number of infections has seen sporadic peaks and drops.

Russia has registered 6,693 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours (6,719 yesterday), bringing the cumulative toll to 647,849, the country's coronavirus response center said on Tuesday.

"Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 6,693 COVID-19 cases in 84 regions, of which 2,019 (30.2 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 647,849 cases in 85 regions, with the daily increase falling to 1 percent.

Of all the newly detected cases, 745 have been confirmed in Moscow, 301 in the Moscow Region and 279 in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area (compared to yesterday's 782, 335 and 277, respectively).

The country's COVID-19 death toll has grown by 154 (93 yesterday) to 9,320.

As many as 9,220 COVID-19 patients have recovered across Russia over the past 24 hours (4,343 yesterday), bringing the total number of cured people to 412,650.

According to the Russian public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, over 19.5 million tests to detect COVID-19 have been conducted in the country since the beginning of the outbreak, and 288,000 suspected virus carriers remain under medical monitoring.

"We will be bringing forward a legal change very shortly, in the next couple of days, because some of the measures that we've unfortunately had to take in Leicester will require a legal underpinning," Hancock said.

"In the very significant testing that we've brought into Leicester... We have seen a number of positive cases in the under 18s and that's why we took the decision with a heavy heart to close schools in Leicester," Hancock added.

Russia's State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector plans to start clinical trials of a vaccine against coronavirus on 15 July, and volunteers have already been selected, Vector Director General Rinat Maksyutov told Sputnik in an interview.

"We expect clinical trials to start on 15 July. A total of 300 volunteers will take part in the clinical trials. They have already been selected, and they meet all the demands perfectly well," Maksyutov said.

The first stage of the clinical studies will be completed in September, and then registration of the vaccine will start, if it is proven safe and highly immunogenic, Vector chief announced.

"It should be noted that we will keep monitoring volunteers' health even in the post-registration period," Maksyutov specified.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova has praised Vector as a leader in coronavirus vaccine creation.

The governor of the US state of Arizona has reimposed some coronavirus-related restrictions in the light of a new sharp COVID-19 increase of daily infections in the state.

"Effective at 8:00 p.m. tonight[Monday], we are instituting a month-long pause on the operations of bars, gyms, movie theaters, waterparks and tubing rentals ... Effective today, organized events of more than 50 people are prohibited. Arizonans should celebrate the 4th of July responsibly this weekend, including by staying home, avoiding larger gatherings, and wearing a mask if you do go out," Doug Ducey said on Twitter.

The beginning of the school year has been delayed until 17 August, but distance learning can begin earlier.

The number of coronavirus cases in Arizona has risen sharply after the state authorities decided to remove most of the restrictions. The daily number of new cases was about 1,000 on 15 June, but spiked to some 3,000 new cases in the last four days.

A number of most populous US states, such as Florida and Texas, have partly returned to the coronavirus-related restrictions amid sharp increases in new cases.

The European Union is set to let in visitors from 14 "safe" countries from 1 July, despite the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the BBC reported.

The mentioned countries include Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

The United States, Brazil and China are not on the "safe" list.

"There is a time in the future we'll be opening our borders but to suggest that time is now when the virus is getting worse is frankly dangerous," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.