COVID-19 Live Updates: Number of Coronavirus Cases Worldwide Tops 18Mln - Johns Hopkins University

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus cases confirmed all over the world has surpassed 18 million, while the global COVID-19 death toll stands at over 687,000 according to data from the Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

As of 06:00 Moscow time on Monday (03:00 GMT), there are 18,017,556 confirmed coronavirus cases in the world. The global death toll from COVID-19 stands at 687,930. The number of recovered individuals stands at 10,649,108.

The United States remains the country with the largest number of cases (4,665,932) and the highest COVID-19 death toll (154,841), according to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins University.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on 11 March. The biggest number of cases so far have been registered in the United States, Brazil and India.

BEIJING (Sputnik) - China registered 43 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, 10 COVID-19 patients recovered over that period, which is four less than the day before, the country’s National Health Commission said on Monday.

Out of the 43 new cases, 36 are local, while the rest are imported. According to the commission, most of the local cases have been registered in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwestern China, where new sparks in infection were recently reported.

The country’s total number of confirmed coronavirus cases now stands at 84,428, the death toll is 4,634. The total number of recovered individuals in China stands at 79,013. The total number of imported cases is 2,085. More than 780 COVID-19 patients remain hospitalized in China.

In the past 24 hours, 11 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases were registered in China, three of them imported. More than 250 asymptomatic carriers of the novel coronavirus are being monitored.

On Sunday, China registered 49 new coronavirus cases, 33 of them local with the majority of them registered in Xinjiang. Also on Sunday, 20 new asymptomatic cases were registered in China, nine of them imported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - More than 540 new coronavirus-related deaths were confirmed in Brazil in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll up to over 94,000, according to the latest data from the Health Ministry.

Brazil now has a total of 2,733,677 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 25,800 new cases having been registered in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday. Over the same period, 541 new deaths were confirmed, bringing the country’s total death toll up to 94,104.

On Saturday, Brazil reported 45,392 new coronavirus cases and 1,088 new deaths from COVID-19. On Friday, Brazil reported 52,383 new COVID-19 cases and over 1,200 new coronavirus-related deaths.

A week ago, Brazil’s coronavirus death toll stood at around 87,000 thus the country has seen a weekly rise of about 7,000 coronavirus-related fatalities, one thousand less than the previous weekly rise.

Over 1.8 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in Brazil since the start of the epidemic in the country, according to the health ministry.

On Friday, Mexico surpassed the United Kingdom in the coronavirus death toll count, becoming the country with the third-largest number of COVID-19 fatalities, after the United States and Brazil. The US and Brazil are also the top two countries in terms of the total number of coronavirus cases.

LONDON (Sputnik) - The number of COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom has increased by 744 in the last 24 hours, reaching 304,695, according to the country's Health Department.

On Saturday, the daily increase was 771.

"As of 9am [08:00 GMT] on 2 August, 304,695 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK," the department said.

MOSCOW, August 2 (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has increased to 943,808 with the death toll of 19,971, the World Health Organization said on Sunday.

On Saturday, the number of cases confirmed stood at 928,320 with 19,681 deaths.

More than 600,000 people have recovered from the disease.

The country with the largest number of deaths is South Africa with 8,153, followed by Egypt with 4,834 fatalities.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The incidence of pneumonia cases in Moscow has decreased by more than 50 percent within a month, the city's coronavirus response centre said on Sunday.

"The prevalence of community-acquired pneumonia has decreased more than 50 percent in a month," the centre said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the number of patients on ventilator support has decreased by 32.3 percent for the same period, and the total number of hospitalized patients is down by 36.1 percent.

Moscow has confirmed a total of 242,713 COVID-19 cases, with a death toll of 4,473.

MOSCOW, August 2 (Sputnik) - Forty-five law enforcement officers sustained injuries and 133 people were detained during Saturday’s protests against the coronavirus restrictions and deportations in Berlin, the police said.

On Saturday, some 20,000 people gathered for an anti-lockdown rally in the German capital. The protesters celebrated what they believe is the end of the pandemic, billing it as a "day of freedom." The event ended early at the demand of police, as protesters neither wore face masks nor kept social distancing. After some of the demonstrators refused to disperse, law enforcement officers started making detentions.

Separately, a protest against deportations and fascism was staged in the Neukölln district, which is home to a large number of Berliners with migrant background. The protest turned violent as demonstrators started hurling stones at police. Two police vehicles and a local party’s office were damaged.

"As of now, 45 law enforcement officers have been injured," the police said.

In total, about 1,100 police officers were deployed in the city during the protests, the press release added.

The State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vektor plans to begin production of a vaccine against the coronavirus in November, the center’s Director-General Rinat Maksyutov said.

Speaking to Russian state broadcaster Rossiya 1, Maksyutov said that a phased transition from vaccinating special and at-risk groups to mass vaccination can be expected for late this year and early 2021.

"We expect to launch production in November of this year. Therefore, closer to the end of the year and the beginning of the next, we can talk about the transition from vaccinating at-risk groups, at the very least, to mass vaccination,” Maksyutov said in a television address aired Sunday.

A day prior, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that the government expects the first phase of vaccine production to begin in October and reiterated that vaccination will be free of charge in Russia.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova earlier in the week said that two Russian-developed vaccine candidates are dashing for the finish line, one from the Gamaleya Research Institute and the other from Vektor.

Vietnam’s coronavirus tally has surpassed 600 after another 34 people have tested positive in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

In total, the country now has 620 cumulative cases, including 373 recoveries and five deaths.

First two fatalities from COVID-19 in Vietnam were reported on July 31, tarnishing its heretofore clear record. It came after a cluster of infections was detected in the resort city of Da Nang following three months of zero domestically transmitted cases.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines has exceeded the 100,000 mark with a record 5,032 new infections registered on Sunday, the Health Ministry’s data showed.

With the total cases now reaching 103,185, the spread of COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian nation is steeply rising. The daily growth rate just this Thursday set a record at over 3,800 cases, the next day there were nearly 4,000 new infections detected and on Saturday, over 4,800 cases were detected.

More than 65,000 people have recovered from the ailment, while 2,059 people have died.

The Philippines’ epidemiological dynamic mirrors that of many Southeast Asian nations, where COVID-19 infections have only recently begun to climb. Most other nations in Europe and the Americas experienced an initial spread of the virus which later tailed off only to begin climbing again after easing of restrictions.

Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that he had been infected with the coronavirus and turned for medical assistance.

"Upon having initial symptoms of the coronavirus, I got tested and the result came back positive. I am in good health, but I am admitting myself to the hospital, per doctors' advice. I am asking everyone who made contact with me in the last few days, please, self-isolate and get tested," the minister tweeted.

According to a Sputnik correspondent, Shah has been admitted to Medanta Hospital in the city of Gurugram.

India has confirmed a total of 1,750,723 cases, with a death toll of 37,364.

Iran’s COVID-19 death toll has surpassed 17,000 after another 208 fatalities have been registered in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, as broadcast by the IRINN news network.

Cumulative cases have risen by 2,685 to 309,437 the ministry’s spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari specified. Daily rise in cases thus remains stable.

Over 268,000 people have recovered, and 17,190 have died since the onset of the pandemic.

Russia has registered 5,427 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours (5,462 yesterday), bringing the cumulative total to 850,870, the country's coronavirus response center said on Sunday.

"Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 5,427 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions, of which 1,565 (28.8 percent) have been detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the response center said in a statement.

This brings the total case count to 850,870.

Moscow has registered 664 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, which is more than any other region in Russia, followed by the Sverdlovsk Region with 199 cases and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region with 168 new cases (compared to 690, 202 and 170 yesterday, respectively).

A total of 70 COVID-19 patients died in Russia in the past 24 hours (95 on the previous day), which brings the death toll to 14,128.

As many as 3,648 coronavirus patients have been discharged, bringing the total number of recoveries to 650,173.

Ukraine has detected 1,112 new cases and 16 deaths from COVID-19 in the past day, in what appears to be a steady proliferation of the disease in the country, the National Security and Defense Council's coronavirus monitoring center said on Sunday.

This brings the total number of cases registered to 72,168 while 1,725 people have now died as a result. Over 39,000 people who contracted COVID-19 have now recovered.

The Ivano-Frankivsk region accounts for most of the new cases, as 115 cases have been recorded there. It is followed by the Lviv region with 112 new cases, and the Ukrainian capital of Kiev with 110 cases.

The daily growth rate in Ukraine has fluctuated since the beginning of the outbreak, but statistics over the past week have posted increases of about 1,000 infections daily, centered around the capital and western regions.

India's COVID tally has crossed the 1.7 million mark, with 54,736 new positive cases and 853 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The total number of COVID19 cases in the country stands at 1,750,724, including 567,730 active cases, 1,145,630 who have recovered, and 37,364 deaths, according to the Health Ministry.