COVID-19 Live Updates: Brazil's COVID-19 Case Tally Up 19,373 Over Past Day to 3,359,570

In total, the country has registered over 225,400 novel coronavirus cases and 9,236 deaths related to the disease, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases count shows.

According to the tally, as of 17 August, the total number of coronavirus cases in the state has reached 634,000, with the number of fatalities related to the disease exceeded 11,342.

According to the tally, as of 17 August, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country has reached 5,460,000, with the number of fatalities related to the disease exceeded 170,000.

The country registered 17 more novel coronavirus cases on Monday, the National Health Commission has said. All of the cases were imported, it added. No new deaths were registered in China on 17 August.

China has a total of 84,871 coronavirus cases and 4,634 deaths related to the disease so far.

According to the Canadian health authorities, the total number of the virus-infected people has reached 122,872, with 9,032 fatalities due to the disease.

The provinces of Quebec and Ontario have become the hotbeds of the novel coronavirus in Canada, with 61,206 and 40,745 cases registered, respectively.

On Monday, the country's ministry confirmed 3,571 novel coronavirus cases and 266 deaths related to the disease.

As of 17 August, the number of COVID-19 cases in Mexico has reached 525,733, with 57,023 deaths registered, the health ministry count shows.

#ReporteCOVID19 - 17 de agosto:

14.089 recuperados
8.328 nuevos casos
275 fallecidos

Muestras:
PCR: 32.723
Antígeno: 1.632

Total:

301.525 recuperados
476.660 casos de COVID-19
15.372 fallecidos
2.259.743 muestras procesadas
158.778 casos activoshttps://t.co/SiKTpTCQ3W pic.twitter.com/W9CNx4UBgc

— MinSaludCol (@MinSaludCol) August 17, 2020

On Monday, state health authorities registered 222 novel coronavirus cases and 17 deaths related to the disease. On Sunday, the number of new cases stood at 282, with 25 deaths reported.

As of 17 August, the number of coronavirus cases in the state has exceeded 17,000, with 334 deaths registered, local health department data shows.

On Monday, the National Health Ministry reported 19,373 new cases of the COVID-19 and 684 fatalities related to the disease in the past 24 hours.

As of 17 August, Brazil has registered nearly 3,360,000 cases of the novel coronavirus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 108,536, according to ministry data, marking the world's second largest coronavirus outbreak after the United States.

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - Russian pharmaceutical company Petrovax is set to launch Phase 3 clinical trials of Ad5-nCOV, one of China's COVID-19 vaccine candidates, Mikhail Tsyferov, the head of Petrovax, said on Monday.

Phase 3 trials of the vaccine are planned to be conducted overseas and Russia has been among the states that have expressed their readiness to participate in the tests. Ad5-nCOV was the first vaccine to undergo clinical trials on humans in China back in March and phases 1 and 2 were conducted domestically. Chinese media reported on Sunday that the CanSino Biologics company, a co-creator of the vaccine alongside the country's military research academy, has received an invention patent for it from the authorities.

"Petrovax has obtained permission from the Russian Ministry of Health to conduct a phase 3 clinical trial of the Chinese vaccine candidate Ad5-nCov in Russia," Tsyferov said.

Petrovax has planned to recruit volunteers in health care institutions for participating in the multinational efficacy trial of Ad5-nCOV.

According to Petrovax's head, COVID-19 response is an absolute priority for the company in 2020.

"We strive to apply longstanding experience accumulated by our company in developing and producing vaccines for the benefit of the society. Back in 2009, the company was involved in the development and supply of an influenza vaccine needed amid an influenza pandemic. Today we witnessed how the coronavirus pandemic had swept across the globe, therefore, we must work together with our international partners. This is an excellent example of an international partnership that gains momentum and includes more and more countries," Tsyferov stated.

Tsyferov clarified that the vaccine was administered to volunteers in a single dose that had been proven to be safe and had elicited an immune response in most subjects.

"The vaccine is unique. It is administered to volunteers once. This sets it apart from other competing vaccines, which are based on two-dose administration. A single injection is safe and will speed up the process of clinical trials, bring closer the time of its registration and supply to the market for general use," the president stated.

Once the vaccine is registered in Russia, Petrovax will be able to produce it at its facilities in the Moscow Region. The firm plans to market the vaccine domestically and within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Meanwhile, Russia registered its own pioneer COVID-19 vaccine last Tuesday. The vaccine, created by the Gamaleya Institute with support from the Defense Ministry and the Russian Direct Investment Fund, has passed Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, and Phase 3 trials involving around 2,000 people are currently underway.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Yale University Medical School announced in a press release on Monday that it has launched a phase 3 trial of a leading novel coronavirus vaccine candidate.

"The study is a collaboration between BioNTech SE and Pfizer using modified RNA. This is a novel way to create a vaccine for use in humans. Rather than using the part or whole of the actual virus in an inactive form to create immunity, this vaccine candidate uses a genetic code (modified RNA) to make the body generate proteins that resemble the SARS CoV-2 virus spike protein, thereby causing development of antibodies against it," the release said.

The earlier trial phases indicate that the vaccine is tolerated well and generates the appropriate immune response that has the potential to protect humans from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the release said.

Researchers are working with local advocacy groups, including the Connecticut AME Zion Church to ensure minorities such as African-American communities that are disproportionately impacted by the virus participate in the trial, the release also said.

"When we started talking about clinical trials in our community, people of color represented only 3 percent - 6 percent of the participants in clinical trials," Walter’s Memorial AME Zion Church pastor Elvin Clayton said in the release. "Now we see between 30 percent - 50 percent participation."

The trial is a randomized placebo-controlled experiment, which means that of the planned 30,000 enrollees, half will receive the vaccine and half will receive a placebo, the release said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Virus-neutralizing antibodies were developed in all volunteers who received both freeze-dried and liquid shots of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Russian Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Denis Logunov, the institute's deputy research director, said on Monday.

The Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine is based on an adenovirus. It has been tested on animals and then put into trial with two groups of volunteers.

"The parameters of humoral immunity were assessed through the reaction of the virus neutralization, that is, direct inactivation of the virus with antibodies. Neutralizing antibodies were found in all volunteers immunized with our vaccine, both the freeze-dried and liquid," Logunov said.

The researcher noted that the indicators of cell-mediated immunity had also been analyzed, namely cytotoxic lymphocytes, which remove cells infected with the virus from the body. They were found in all volunteers.

"If we take specific indicators and figures that have been achieved, then the geometric mean titer [GMT] of antibody in volunteers has reached more than 1 in 14,000, almost 1 in 15,000. Seroconversion was detected in 100 percent of the volunteers. Seroconversion is when the titer of antibodies increases by more than four times compared to the person’s initial values," Logunov added.

He noted that the researchers had obtained very good results in terms of vaccine immunogenicity.

On August 11, Russia registered the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine, named Sputnik V and supported by the Defense Ministry and the Direct Investment Fund. Though some western countries have expressed reservations about the vaccine, as it has yet to pass the required Phase 3 of clinical trials, the Russian Health Ministry has said that Sputnik V has undergone all necessary checks and proven to be capable of building immunity against the virus.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The local authorities of Le Touquet commune in France's northern department of Pas-de-Calais have banned night gatherings starting on Monday evening due to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases, the Bleu media outlet reported on Monday.

France has seen an increase in the number of new cases and clusters of the virus, with many of them being young people with no symptoms. Authorities have warned that such carriers endanger the entire nation when gathering in public places without wearing masks.

In this regard, Le Touquet obligated bars and other nightlife facilities to close at 3-4 a.m., and prohibited night gatherings until 6 a.m, the media said.

The local authorities across the country have strengthened health measures in recent weeks due to a renewed circulation of the coronavirus. In particular, the use of masks while outdoors has been made mandatory in France’s major cities, including Paris, Marseilles and Lille. To date, France has confirmed nearly 256,000 COVID-19 cases and over 30,000 related fatalities.

Plasma Technologies, a US producer of immune serum to treat COVID-19 patients, will receive $750,000 to scale up production of a treatment produced from the blood of recovered victims, the Defence Department announced in a press release on Monday.

“This award will provide the necessary funding to establish a proof of concept of activities on a larger scale, demonstrating the potential for a greater supply of available convalescent plasma for the nation’s use,” the release said.

The $750,000 grant targets a new plasma separation process developed and patented by Plasma Technologies, which results in higher yields of immunoglobulin and other plasma proteins, the release added.

Blood plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients helps victims survive the deadly disease by reprogramming an overwhelmed immune system.

The Defense Department’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Army Contracting Command to award the contract, the release said.

The deal is funded by the $2.2 trillion CAREs Act, the biggest US COVID-19 mitigation package approved thus far, according to the release.

The local authorities of France’s northeastern department of Marne have revoked the country’s second-largest agricultural fair of Chalons-en-Champagne by the refusal to grant the fair organizers permission to hold gatherings of more than 5,000 people, the France 3 broadcaster reported on Monday.

The 74th edition of the fair was scheduled to take place from September 4-14 in Chalons-en-Champagne, the capital of the Marne department. According to its general commissioner, the department refused to lift a coronavirus-related ban on mass gatherings of more than 5,000 people for the fair, and left the organizers with no choice but to cancel the event.

The fair of Chalons-en-Champagne is second in scope and prominence only to the Agricultural Show and trade fair in Paris. Apart from the importance for the economy, the fair is also a significant political event, often attended by major political figures, including former presidents Francois Hollande or Nicolas Sarkozy. According to the organizers, over 250,000 people visited the fair last year.

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales' older sister, Esther, has died at the age of 70 after having contracted the coronavirus, local media reported.

According to the Agencia Boliviana de Informacion (ABI) news agency, Esther Morales was taken to a hospital in Bolivia's eastern city of Oruro on August 9, where she was admitted to a ward for COVID-19 patients. The woman spent several days in intensive care. She passed away late on Sunday.

The former president, who fled Bolivia in November under pressure from protesters and the military following the Bolivian opposition’s refusal to accept his victory in the first round of the presidential election, confirmed his sister’s death.

"It hurts me that I could not say goodbye to my sister, who was like a mother to me, to thank her for her love, honesty and courage ... She was by my side at the most difficult times," Morales wrote on Twitter.

Esther Morales' relatives are said to be assessing the possibility of burying her in her hometown of Orinoca.

Bolivia has so far recorded over 100,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 4,000 related deaths.

Russia has registered 4,892 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours (4,969 yesterday), bringing the cumulative total to 927,745, the country's coronavirus response centre said on Monday.
"Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 4,892 COVID-19 cases in 83 regions, of which 1,279 (26.1 percent) have been detected with people showing no clinical symptoms”, the response centre said in a statement.
This takes the total case count to 927,745, with a daily increase standing at 0.5 percent.

The premier of Australia’s New South Wales on Monday apologised for mistakes made by the state’s health care agency in handling the outbreak on the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

"Over the weekend I reviewed the Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess, and it is clear mistakes were made by NSW Health and others. I recognise the hurt and suffering these mistakes caused, and I apologise for that”, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

She noted that the "issues occurred during an extraordinary time of great uncertainty”, and the government would learn from these mistakes.

According to the government, NSW Health has "acted immediately to address the failures" identified in the report to "ensure the errors are not repeated”.

On 19 March, 2,700 passengers from the ship were allowed to disembark in Sydney even though some of them were already feeling ill at that point. A report into the Ruby Princess crisis, which was released last week, linked over 900 coronavirus cases and 28 deaths to the ship, including 20 in Australia and eight in the United States. Sixty-two people are believed to have contracted the virus as a secondary or tertiary infection from Ruby Princess passengers.

The Japanese economy took an unprecedented hit due to the restrictive measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19, according to preliminary data published by the Japanese government.

From April to June 2020, when restrictions on people-to-people contacts were in effect in Japan and affected business activity, real GDP fell by 7.8 percent compared to the previous quarter taking into account seasonal fluctuations, and in annual figures, the decline is estimated at 27.8 percent.

At the same time, negative GDP growth has been observed in Japan for the third quarter in a row. The Japanese government considers the current recession to be the biggest since 1955.

On 7 April, the Japanese authorities declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures, requiring citizens to stay at home. Restrictions were then introduced throughout Japan until the end of May.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than half of the Japanese economy, fell by 8.2 percent quarter-on-quarter as people stopped travelling, shopping, or visiting restaurants in light of the emergency.

Exports of goods and services decreased by 18.5% from April to June compared to the first quarter of 2020 and by 56 percent on an annualised basis.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, the Japanese economic revitalization minister who also serves as minister responding to the novel coronavirus pandemic, has expressed hope that the government will take all the necessary measures to normalise the situation in the economy.

Russia's State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology Vector is conducting the second stage of coronavirus vaccine trials, and all the volunteers taking part in the clinical trials are feeling fine, showing no adverse reactions, the head of the national public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said on Monday.

"Yes, of course [we have proceeded to the second stage]. Today, clinical trials are being conducted. All the volunteers, who have been selected through a special procedure, are feeling fine. Those who have already been inoculated have absolutely no adverse reactions. Not a single case of slight redness in the injection site has been recorded. The body temperature of all the volunteers is absolutely normal”, Anna Popova told reporters.

The public health watchdog chief held a briefing on the epidemiological situation in Novosibirsk, Russia and on the measures implemented to prevent local spreading of the coronavirus. Popova also held talks with Sergey Menyaylo, Russian presidential envoy in the Siberian Federal District.

Health authorities in Kazakhstan have detected 337 new coronavirus cases over the past day, bringing the overall total to 103,033, the country's interdepartmental commission on coronavirus said on Monday.

"We have registered 337 new cases of the coronavirus infection, including 165 people with symptoms and 172 without symptoms," the commission said on its Telegram channel.

The country has also recorded 18,465 pneumonia cases similar to COVID-19 as well as 216 related fatalities.

The death toll from COVID-19 in Kazakhstan is 1,397.

Over 900 people have died of COVID-19 in India over the past 24 hours bringing the total death toll from the infection to 50,921, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday.

With over over 2.6 million cases, India comes third in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, following the United States and Brazil. More than 1.9 million people have recovered in India since the start of the outbreak. The number of active cases currently stands at 676,900.

The highest number of cases were detected in states of Maharashtra (158,705,) Andhra Pradesh (85,945) and Karnataka (81,528).

Germany has confirmed 561 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, with the total count reaching 224,014, the Robert Koch Institute said on Monday.

The death toll has increased by one to 9,232 people. Over 202,000 people have recovered since the start of the outbreak.

A day earlier, the country confirmed 625 new coronavirus cases and zero fatalities.