COVID-19 Live Updates: Spain to Call in Army to Help Fight Pandemic

India’s Trade Ministry has lifted the ban on the export of personnel protection equipment and face masks on Tuesday.

While medical coveralls facemasks, except N95, FFP2 and face-shields have no restrictions, the notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said, medical goggles, N95, FFP2 facemasks have been put in the restricted list with a monthly cap of 2 million and 5 million units for exports.

Prior to March 2020, India was completely dependent on import of personal protection equipment, but the government encourage domestic manufactures to develop it and has now become the second-largest producer of PPE in the world.

Russia would provide Pakistan with a coronavirus vaccine should such need arise in light of the thriving bilateral relations, Pakistani Ambassador to Russia Shafqat Ali Khan told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Russia-hosted Army-2020 international forum on Tuesday.

"I am not in the position to comment on the purchase because we are still assessing various vaccines. But we know that if we need it, the Russian side will help us," Khan said.

According to the ambassador, Pakistan looks at its relations with Russia "in a holistic way" as they are "not restricted to one particular area."

"We are proud to say that Pakistan-Russia relations are historically at the strongest point," Khan said, adding that the priorities of the bilateral ties are the political, economic and defense sectors.

The ambassador believes that the Russian-Pakistani cooperation is not only in the interest of the two countries, but also contributes to the global stability and security.

The Army international military forum marks its sixth edition this year. It brings together state and military officials from dozens of countries annually to discuss the latest developments in the fields of defense and security. The forum also features a large-scale exhibit of newest models of military equipment and hardware in a range just outside Moscow.

The World Health Organization (WHO) does not have enough resources to support African nations in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti said on Tuesday.

"As far as the work on COVID-19 is concerned, we still have a significant gap in mobilizing the resources that we need to provide particularly technical support to the work that you are doing, honorable ministers, in responding to the pandemic," Moeti said at the 70th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa.

According to her, given the fact that the virus will continue to circulate after the pandemic, it is necessary to adjust to this new reality, make a greater use of technologies and develop partnerships in responding to the health crisis.

The WHO official has also urged African countries to take all precautionary measures ahead of elections.

"I want to flag that fact that we know in relation to COVID-19 pandemic that in quite a few countries there will be elections in the next few months and we just like to plead and urge these potentially mass gatherings be run in a way that takes into account the need to minimize the spread of the virus and we are available in the WHO to provide advice as far as that is concerned," Moeti added.

A number of African countries are set to hold presidential election in 2020, including the Central African Republic, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, while some others will elect a new parliament, including Chad and Egypt.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has increased to one million with the death toll of over 20,000, according to the WHO.

"I'm really pleased by the work that teachers, schools, parents, pupils have done to get ready," Johnson said.

The condition of Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of Ukraine's opposition Batkivshchyna party and the former Ukrainian prime minister who is battling COVID-19, remains grave, her spokeswoman, Marina Soroka, said on Tuesday, adding that the politician is undergoing intensive therapy.

On Sunday, Soroka said that Tymoshenko's condition was assessed as serious.

"Unfortunately, there is no good news yet. Yulia Vladimirovna's condition remains serious... Since yesterday evening, she has been receiving an intensive course of therapy in accordance with the COVID treatment protocol," the spokeswoman wrote on Facebook.

According to the RBC Ukraine news agency, citing sources, Tymoshenko is connected to a ventilator.

The daily increase in COVID-19 cases in Poland has begun to go up again, with 763 new cases registered on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said.

The overall number of cases has reached 63,073, according to the ministry. The country's death toll has grown by 17 to 1,977.

Last Friday, the country saw its record daily increase of 903. On Monday, the number was 900, and on both Sunday and Monday, Poland had more than 500 new cases.

Poland still maintains a state of epidemic emergency. Earlier in the month, the authorities decided to introduce the mandatory use of face masks in the areas with recorded spikes in cases.

Australian survey respondents say they backed stronger surveillance of people infected with COVID-19 and favored containing the spread of the outbreak in the country to reopening the economy.

According to a survey of 1,036 respondents, The Guardian Australia found tangible public concern with the resurgence of the coronavirus infection in elderly homes of the country and an increasing dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the outbreak.

On the debate of placing trackers on people with established COVID-19 symptoms, 60 percent of respondents found the idea acceptable, while just over half considered isolation in a specialized facility preferrable to quarantining at home. Nearly the same fraction of people backed a renewed suspension of international air travel.

Approval of the government's actions, both at the federal and state level, has been waning across the board, with 77 percent saying that Prime Minister Scott Morris is liable for ill-prepared nursing homes. One half of the respondents also agreed that the government’s underfunding and under-regulating of aged care in Australia had left the elderly exposed to sweeping outbreaks.

Australia’s leadership had initially patted themselves on the back for successfully keeping the outbreak at bay, with a first wave tailing off by April. A steep rise in cases in July, however, blindsided the government and left it scrambling to reimpose measures. The daily new cases currently appear to be tailing off, but it leaves a different political dynamic from the first wave.

Health authorities in the commonwealth nation have so far registered 25,053 COVID-19 cases with 525 deaths as a result.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on Tuesday for a comprehensive governmental emergency response to the surge in COVID-19 cases as well as the pandemic's economic consequences, media reported on Tuesday.

According to the Yonhap news agency, Moon is ready to chair the emergency economic council session himself to strengthen anti-virus measures, which are said to be a "short cut" to the economic recovery in the country.

"I would like you to keep in mind that the emergency economic response this time should be done in a way that harmonizes with efforts to contain the virus," the president said, as cited by the news agency.

Moon went on to say during his weekly Cabinet meeting that the government should also focus on "stabilizing employment, minimizing economic damage and mapping out measures for economic recovery."

The South Korean leader has previously chaired six rounds of such weekly meetings since 19 March, during which he approved the allocation of additional budgets to minimize the economic fallout.

Next week, the selection process for the volunteers will begin "along with clinical use," Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Tuesday.

Russia recorded 4,696 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, which brings the cumulative total to 966,189, the response centre said Tuesday.

Moscow registered 681 new cases, St. Petersburg 179, the Moscow region 143. Chukotka registered no cases at all.

Russia has recorded 6,652 recoveries in the last 24 hours, which brings the total to 779,747, and 120 fatalities, bringing the total to 16,568.

Health authorities in Kazakhstan have recorded 184 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the overall total to 104,902, the country's interdepartmental commission on the coronavirus said on Tuesday.

"There are 184 new registered cases of the coronavirus infection, including 112 people with symptoms and 72 without symptoms," the commission said.

The death toll from COVID-19 in Kazakhstan has increased by 11 to 1,534 people, while more than 93,000 people have recovered.

A day earlier, Kazakhstan reported 175 new coronavirus cases and 13 fatalities.

The Korea Communications Commission is boosting measures of fighting disinformation on the topic of the coronavirus infection, calling such disinformation a crime against the society.

"We intend to take tough measures in relation to such publications, in particular, to promptly delete and block such information," the commission said in a Tuesday statement.

The commission is calling on people who have come across false information relating to the coronavirus to contact the police.

According to current South Korean legislation, people publishing false news about COVID-19 can be prosecuted for violation of public order, as well as business violations.

South Korea’s coronavirus death toll stands at 309, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The total number of confirmed cases has surpassed 17,600. The number of recovered individuals in South Korea stands at 14,200.

In the past two weeks, the daily increase of coronavirus cases in South Korea grew proportionately from 56 to 332, reaching a record 397 cases on Sunday. The last time that a greater daily increase was reported was on March 7, when 483 new cases were confirmed in South Korea over a 24-hour period.