The coronavirus has claimed over 1,085,000 lives worldwide so far, with the number of cases surpassing 38 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. At the moment, the countries with the highest number of infected people are the US (7.85 million), India (7.24 million), and Brazil (over 5.1 million).
Follow Sputnik's Live Feed to Find Out More!
China’s containment of the coronavirus and its response to the pandemic has been integral to its economic recovery and ability to post growth for this year, the only country to do so, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday.
"China has taken to containing the pandemic very decisively and with measures to provide a potent stimulus for the economy," Georgieva said at the 42nd meeting of the IMF-led International Monetary and Financial Committee. "And we see the outcome in the performance of the Chinese economy and our projections for its future for next year."
The IMF released its latest World Economic Outlook this week, predicting global gross domestic product will contract by 4.4 percent in 2020. China was the only economy to show a positive growth in 2020, with its gross domestic product forecast to expand 1.9 percent this year, according to the report.
For 2021, the IMF projects Chinese GDP will grow by 8.2 percent.
Despite the praise from the IMF, as well as the World Health Organization, for its handling of the pandemic and response, China has been sharply criticized by the United States, particularly President Donald Trump, who accuses it of creating and spreading the COVID-19 which he calls the "China virus".
Georgieva told Thursday’s IMF meeting that a global economic recovery from the COVID-19 was underway but it will be partial, uneven and marked by significant uncertainty, requiring relentless fiscal support.
France registered 30,621 new coronavirus cases over the past day, a new one-day high, the country's public health agency said on Thursday.
Over the past 24 hours, 88 people have died from the coronavirus in the country, the agency added.
Prior to that, the largest number of detected COVID-19 cases per day was just above 26,000. On Wednesday, almost 23,000 new cases were reported.
The total number of cases since the beginning of the epidemic in France has exceeded 809,000, including 33,125 fatalities.
The G20 countries have spent more than $11 trillion on measures to support national and global economies during the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said at a press conference following a virtual meeting of G20 finance ministers.
"The expenditures of countries to support national economies and take measures during the pandemic, support citizens and the world economy exceeded $11 trillion," the minister said.
On Wednesday, G20 finance ministers and central bankers discussed the global economic situation amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Health Minister Helen Westley is set to hold a telephone conversation with London MPs at 9.30 am and then with Greater Manchester MPs at 10.45 am.
Greater Manchester and London MPs will be speaking to the government after the Joint Biosecurity Centre recommended moving Manchester and Lancashire to Tier 3, the highest level of readiness. This includes restrictions on households to no longer mix indoors and outdoors, while pubs and bars have to be closed if they can't operate as restaurants.
Germany has confirmed 6,638 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak, with the total count reaching 341,223, the Robert Koch Institute said on Thursday.
The death toll has grown by 33 to 9,710 people within the same period of time. More than 281,000 people have recovered since the start of the outbreak.
A day earlier, the country confirmed 5,132 new coronavirus cases and 43 fatalities.
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 38.4 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 1.09 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency released on Thursday the national caseload of 24,988 confirmed cases, including 439 deaths.
At least 54 cases of COVID-19 infection have been reported at a nursing hospital in the southern port city of Busan.
More than 40 others came from the densely populated metropolitan district of Seoul that is near to places such as hospitals, churches, schools and offices.
The Romanian authorities are extending the high alert mode due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and additional restrictions are being imposed in the country, the government said in a statement.
Earlier, the country's authorities reported 164,477 confirmed cases of the infection, with 5,601 deaths.
On May 15, the emergency situation regime ended in Romania, and the authorities announced a high alert mode to replace it. The latter was in effect until October 15.
"The government has decided to extend the high alert regime in the country for a period of 30 days, starting from October 15, 2020," the resolution, published on the Romanian cabinet's website, says.
The authorities are also introducing additional restrictive measures. In particular, if the level of coronavirus incidence in a locality exceeds three cases per 1,000 people, then local residents will have to wear masks not only in closed rooms, but also on the streets. It is forbidden to hold weddings, christenings, anniversaries and other feasts in closed spaces.
The National Health Commission on Thursday said 10 official cases were imported from abroad, up from 14 a day earlier. One new local infection was reported in Qingdao, where city authorities are seeking to check everyone this week because of recent cases linked to a hospital treating imported infections.
The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in mainland China currently stands at 85,622, whereas the death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.
Mexico's Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 4,056 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection and 478 additional deaths, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 829,396 with 84,898 fatalities.
The government stated the actual number of people infected is likely dramatically higher than the official tally.
Venezuela has started trials of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, President Nicolas Maduro said.
"The Russian vaccine is already in Venezuela, tests have begun, there are already 2,000 volunteers," Maduro said.
The president said that a Chinese vaccine would also be delivered to the country. As soon as the trials of the two medications are completed and after approval by the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccination of the entire population will begin.
“I thought it would start in April... If earlier, it is better,” Maduro said.
First of all, in Venezuela, workers in the healthcare system and the education system, as well as elderly people and those with chronic diseases, will be vaccinated.
Earlier, Maduro said that his son and sister would take part in clinical trials of the vaccine, he himself would be vaccinated at the start of mass vaccination.
The country's health ministry announced on Wednesday that 749 additional coronavirus deaths and 27,235 new cases have been reported in Brazil.
Brazil has now confirmed 151,747 total deaths and 5,140,863 total official cases.
The Irish government has moved three counties on its open border with Northern Ireland - Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan - to level 4 of its five-step COVID-19 curbs system and banned almost all home visits across Ireland.
British-run Northern Ireland announced on Wednesday the strictest further restrictions seen in the UK since early summer in response to a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases that neighboring Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin called "hugely worrying".
The new Irish restrictions mean a retail ban until November 10 in the first counties to be upgraded to Level 4. Martin also said he would like to continue assessing the impact of the recently introduced Level 3 restrictions elsewhere over the coming week.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on young people to do their part to stop the spread of Covid-19 after private parties were repeatedly blamed for local outbreaks in German cities.
"We must call especially on young people to do without a few parties now in order to have a good life tomorrow or the day after," Merkel stated during a news conference after agreeing with the heads of Germany's 16 States on additional restrictions against the spread of the coronavirus.
Officials stated that people have to wear masks on public transport and in shops, while bars will have to close early in the districts where the COVID-19 infection rates are high. Gathering in public and private places should be limited to 10 people.
Many major cities in Germany have surpassed the 50 mark in recent days, including Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich.
President Trump does not actively spread the coronavirus and is now able to attend an upcoming town hall with NBC News taking place on Thursday without the fear of infecting others, stated top US public health official Anthony Fauci.
During the interview, Fauci said that he and his colleague Clifford Lane of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) examined all the COVID-19 tests that the President has taken, and conducted an additional test at the NIH laboratory in order to verify that Trump is no longer contagious.
Moscow has registered 57 deaths of patients infected with COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian capital's death toll to 5,796, the city's coronavirus response center said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Another 57 patients, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow," the center said.
In the previous day, 52 people infected with the coronavirus died in Moscow.
Republican Congressman Bill Huizinga on Wednesday said he tested positive for COVID-19 and has chosen to go into self-isolation.
"Earlier today, I was expected to appear with the Vice President," Huizinga said. "While taking part in offsite testing protocols, I took a rapid test that came back positive for COVID-19."
At least 19 members of Congress have now tested positive for COVID-19, including 15 Republicans and 4 Democrats, according to data posted on govtrack.com as of Wednesday.
Huizinga said he was awaiting the results of a Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and was self isolating until he had confirmed the results.
Including Huizinga, so far 75 representatives and senators have self-quarantined or have taken other action, or no action, after coming in contact with someone with COVID-19 or testing positive for COVID-19 themselves, some of them multiple times, according to govtrack,com.
President Donald Trump, a Republican, recently tested positive for the coronavirus as well. The Republican Party, overall, has had a less cautious attitude towards the pandemic than their Democratic rivals including in terms of social distancing and mask wearing.
Lockdowns in four West Africa nations to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic have lead to a 60 percent increase in hunger, with an estimated $4.8 million children requiring outside aid to survive, Save the Children said on Wednesday.
"COVID-19 has deepened a food, education and healthcare crisis affecting the poorest and most vulnerable communities in four countries in West Africa. An estimated 4.8 million children under 15 in Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Chad, need help to survive and stay in school. This marks a 60 percent increase since the coronavirus pandemic swept the world," the humanitarian organization aid in a statement.
Families already struggling were forced into difficult choices, "like reducing their exposure to coronavirus by staying at home and going hungry, or going out to find work and feeding their families,” the release said.
The number of affected children in the two worst affected countries, Niger and Chad increased 176 percent and 169 percent respectively due to the COVID-19 crisis, according to the release.
Save the Children called for an urgent scaling up of basic humanitarian services in the region, including food and healthcare for vulnerable communities. Failure to act could lead to hundreds, potentially thousands, of preventable child deaths, the agency warned.
The French Council of Ministers adopted on Wednesday a decree to introduce a state of emergency over the worsening epidemiological situation in the country, the BFM TV broadcaster reported.
According to the media outlet, the state of emergency is expected to come into force on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that the new measures will last for four weeks and a curfew will be in effect from 9 pm to 6 am.
Austria has registered a record 1,346 cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of those infected since the beginning of the pandemic to 58,672, according to the country's interior ministry.
According to the data, 402 new cases of the infection were reported from Vienna over the given period. A total of 45,846 people have recovered and 872 patients have died since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of now, 654 patients are in hospitals and 112 of them are in intensive care units.
A single shot of the Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinovac's vaccine against the coronavirus will cost around 200,000 Indonesian rupiahs ($13.60) when it becomes available in Indonesia, the Jakarta Post newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing the state-owned Bio Farma pharmaceutical company.
Honesti Basyir, the Indonesian company's director, said on Tuesday, as cited by the outlet, that the price was based on data received from Sinovac and denied reports that Brazil will get the vaccine at $1.96.
"The $1.96 price per dosage price is incorrect, because the shipping cost alone is at least $2 per dosage. Sinovac is currently seeking the origins of the report," Basyir said, as quoted by the newspaper.
Sinovac, which is the first company in the world to market the H1N1 vaccine, initiated the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, dubbed CoronaVac, in late January. Phases 1 and 2 of the trials on volunteers aged 18-59 started in the Jiangsu province of China back in April. The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials.
The Beijing-based company expects the vaccine to hit markets by the end of the year.
"The advice that I have today is that if we do the regional approach ... we can bring down the R [COVID-19 reproduction rate] and we can bring down the virus", Johnson told parliament.
"The whole point is to seize this moment now to avoid the misery of another national lockdown".
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not yet planning a full national lockdown, as the government hopes that people will stick to the current rules, so the pandemic will be managed locally, Work and Pensions Minister Thérèse Coffey said on Wednesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Twenty countries will meet on Wednesday to discuss ways to achieve a swift economic recovery post-COVID and the G20 initiatives in this field.
The officials will touch upon the G20 Action Plan – Supporting the Global Economy through the COVID-19 Pandemic, which aims to strengthen international financial assistance to the countries suffering from the consequences of the pandemic. The G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) - envisaging the distribution of over $14 billion in relief to DSSI-eligible countries – will also be on the agenda alongside its extension into 2021 given the gloomy economic circumstances.
