The United States is leading the global coronavirus tally, with more than 2 million infections and over 114 deaths. It is followed by Brazil, where more than 802,000 cases have been registered, including at least 40,919 fatalities.
The European Commission recommended lifting all restrictions on internal border controls linked to the coronavirus by 15 June but prolonging the restrictions on entry from countries outside the EU until 30 June.
SEOUL (Sputnik) – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Korea has risen by 49 to 12,051 over the past day, the Health Ministry's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Saturday.
Out of 49 new cases, 44 resulted from the internal transmission. Twenty-nine new cases have been recorded in the capital of Seoul and 14 in the province of Gyeonggi among others.
The death toll has not changed and stands at 277 people. The number of recovered people has increased to 10,691.
A day earlier, South Korea registered 56 new cases of COVID-19 and one fatality.
MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in Mexico, has risen by 544 to 16,448 within the past 24 hours, Jose Luis Alomia, the director of epidemiology at the Health Ministry, said.
He also said on late Friday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had increased by 5,222 to 139,196 within the same period of time.
A day earlier, the Latin American nation has recorded 4,790 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 587 fatalities.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US states may have to reimpose restrictions and social distancing guidelines if cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, top officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta told reporters.
"If cases begin to go up again, particularly if they go up dramatically, it is important to recognize that more mitigation efforts such as what were implemented back in March may be needed again", CDC Deputy Director of Infectious Diseases Jay Butler said on Friday.
Butler and CDC Director Dr Robert Redfield both advised that the American people should continue to keep at least six feet apart in social distancing and always wear face masks in public to keep transmission rates of the virus flattened down.
"In the coming weeks we could see increases in the number of cases of COVID-19. It is too soon to see if this will happen. We must be over-prepared for what we may face later this year", Butler added.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in Brazil, has increased by 909 to 41,828 within the past 24 hours, the national Health Ministry said on late Friday.
Within the same period of time, the number of confirmed cases has risen by 25,982 to 828 810.
A day earlier, Brazil reported about 30,412 new cases of the coronavirus disease and 1,239 new fatalities.
Brazil comes second on a global tally of coronavirus cases after the United States, which has recorded more than 2 million COVID-19 patients.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US state of Arkansas has reported the largest increase in novel coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic, Governor Asa Hutchinson said during a press conference.
"We have increased 731 cases in the last 24 hours and yes that's the largest increase we've had in community cases and total cases since this pandemic began", Hutchinson said on Friday.
Overall, Arkansas has 11,547 novel coronavirus cases, Hutchinson added.
"Another 44 patients, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow", the city's coronavirus response centre said in a statement on Friday.
On Thursday, 49 people infected with the coronavirus died in Moscow.
BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - The number of COVID-19 cases in the European Union continues to decline, although member states must remain vigilant while the pandemic is still ongoing across the world, Stella Kyriakides, European commissioner for health and food safety, said Friday.
"Numbers of COVID-19 infections in the EU continue to decline. As the latest Risk Assessment from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control shows, as of 9 June, the 14-day incidence in the EU overall has declined by 80% since the peak on 9 April," Kyriakides said in a press release after a virtual meeting of EU health ministers earlier in the day.
Despite the falling number of active cases, the commissioner said that EU countries must maintain a high level of alertness as the pandemic continues.
"It is clear however that the pandemic is not over, and we are not yet out of the woods with this virus. Continued vigilance is a must, and we must be ready to roll back the relaxation of measures if needed," Kyriakides said.
The European Commission launched the EU4Health initiative on May 28, which will see Brussels invest 9.4 billion euros ($10.3 billion) to improve the preparedness of member states’ health systems for any future outbreaks of infectious diseases.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, as of Friday morning, has registered more than 1.4 million positive tests for COVID-19 in the EU, countries of the European Economic Area, and the United Kingdom since the start of the outbreak. A total of 4,730 new positive tests were reported over the previous 24 hours.
WASHINGTON, June 12 (Sputnik) - The Trump administration is not seeing a second major wave of COVID-19 cases in the United States, White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday.
"Look, I am not the health expert but on the so-called spike I spoke to our health experts at some length last evening. They are saying, there is no second spike," Kudlow said. "There is no emergency, there is no second wave. I don’t know where that got started on Wall Street."
Kudlow said he agrees with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin who testified Thursday that the administration is not going to shut down the economy.
"What you do have is certain spots are seeing a little bit of a jump up, some small metropolitan areas are seeing it," he said.
Kudlow pointed out that now the United States has much better equipment, much more experience as well as much more testing.
On Thursday, US stock indices fell as much as 7 percent on fear of more lockdowns from a second COVID-19 wave, but bounced back earlier in the day to recover about a third of the previous session’s losses.
Earlier this week, the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States rose above 2 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. There had been a gradual decline in cases - but as economies began to reopen, several states have recently seen spikes.
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - A court in Chile’s capital of Santiago has handed down its first-ever sentence over a violation of the coronavirus quarantine, prosecutors have said.
"The prosecutor's office have secured a 61-day prison term for a person who tried to escape from police control enforced due to the quarantine on May 17 and did not have a permit [to go outside]," the South Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office said late on Thursday.
The BioBioChile radio specified on Friday that the person in question is a 27-year-old who has a criminal record and therefore could not get another punishment, but a prison sentence. This is the first real prison term for violating the quarantine, according to the radio.
The prosecutor's office, in turn, said that 24 people have been in pre-trial detention due to non-compliance with coronavirus restrictions.
Since the onset of the pandemic, Chile has registered 154,092 coronavirus cases, including 2,648 deaths. Accounting for most confirmed infections in the country, Santiago is currently under the lockdown.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Friday that it is too early to speak about easing all COVID-19 restrictions in the country's regions.
"According to our estimates, 21 regions are quite calm so far. But in the rest, the epidemiological process is still ongoing. I repeat that it is at different stages. So, of course, it is too early to say that today we need to completely remove some quarantine measures or return to the way of life that we had before January 2020 in all the regions. This is certain," Murashko said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
The minister stressed that there had been no universal medication to treat COVID-19 yet, and different medications were individually prescribed for a patient by doctors. According to him, effects of COVID-19 vaccines that are being developed in Russia will be monitored including after they obtain registration from the authorities.
Murashko added that when planning a vacation this summer, Russian citizens should be ready to change their plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
BELGRADE (Sputnik) - Health authorities in Serbia have not registered any coronavirus-related fatalities over the past 24 hours, albeit the number of cases continues growing at the old pace as the country is in the midst of abatement of restrictions, according to an update by the Serbian Health Ministry issued on Friday.
Since March 23, one to two people were dying from coronavirus-related causes in Serbia daily, and there were several days in late May and early June with no recorded fatalities. The number of new cases detected per one day has recently been at the level of around 70 in Serbia.
"Over the past 24 hours, no patients have died from COVID-19. The death toll since the pandemic's onset remains 252 people. We have detected 73 new cases of the coronavirus infection, which takes the cumulative toll to 12,175," the ministry said.
According to Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar's forecast earlier, the country can expect the daily growth in the number of cases to stop on July 9 or July 10.
Serbia lifted the coronavirus-related state of emergency and curfew on May 6, in place since mid-March. Social distancing is still prescribed to be obeyed, but public and private institutions, including businesses and food services, have reopened and people can now gather in groups of more than 1,000.
Air traffic relaunched on May 18, and the national flag carrier resumed regular flights on May 21. Borders with neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Albania were opened on June 1.
MOSCOW, June 12 (Sputnik) - The European Union has received a political mandate from member states to distribute a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19 across the continent, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides said Friday.
“I am pleased that from today's Council we received a clear political mandate to proceed (TBC) with our strategy to get to a safe and effective vaccine for all who need it in Europe and find a permanent solution to the COVID-19 crisis,” Kyriakides said in a press release after a virtual meeting of EU health ministers earlier in the day.
The European Union will also take a leading role in stockpiling protective equipment and medical devices in preparation for any future pandemics, as part of the bloc’s new EU4Health initiative, the commissioner stated.
“EU4Health is about massively scaling up resources to be better prepared to react to crises and protect our citizens. For the first time, we will create strategic stockpiles of protective equipment, medicines, and medical devices in case of crises,” Kyriakides stated.
On May 28, the European Commission launched the EU4Health program, which will see the bloc invest a total of 9.4 billion euros ($10.3 billion) to boost the preparedness of member states’ health systems.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, more than 1.4 million cases of the coronavirus disease have been confirmed in the countries of the EU, European Economic Area, and the United Kingdom since the start of the outbreak, resulting in the deaths of more than 170,600 people.
MOSCOW, June 12 (Sputnik) - The coronavirus disease threatens the entire nervous system of patients, researchers from Illinois-based Northwestern University have said.
The researchers have published an article in the Annals of Neurology medical journal, which presents a review of neurological symptoms of coronavirus patients.
"About half of hospitalized patients have neurological manifestations of COVID-19, which include headache, dizziness, decreased alertness, difficulty concentrating, disorders of smell and taste, seizures, strokes, weakness and muscle pain," the university said in a press release on Thursday, summing up the article.
Professor Igor Koralnik, the lead author of the review and Northwestern Medicine chief of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology, said that SARS-CoV-2 neurological symptoms may appear before fever or cough.
"The disease may affect the entire nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and nerves as well as the muscles. There are many different ways COVID-19 can cause neurological dysfunction, he said. Because this disease may affect multiple organs (lung, kidney, heart), the brain may also suffer from lack of oxygenation or from clotting disorders that may lead to ischemic or hemorrhagic strokes," the press release added.
SARS-CoV-2 may also led to direct infection of the brain and meninges. The immune system’s reaction, in turn, may cause inflammation that can damage the brain and nerves, according to the researchers.
Health authorities in Pakistan have detected 6,397 new confirmed coronavirus infection cases over the past day, the biggest daily increment so far, the Pakistani Health Minister said on Friday.
The cumulative toll in Pakistan has now reached 125,933 COVID-19 cases, according to the ministry's report.
The number of coronavirus-related death has grown by 107 over the past 24 hours, taking the total to 2,463 fatalities, the ministry said.
Total recoveries since the epidemic's onset in Pakistan now count 40,247, as stated in the report.
The United States on Friday confirmed 22,883 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, down from 27,234 cases recorded a day ago, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
As of 12:30 GMT on Friday, the US has registered a total of 2,023,347 cases of the coronavirus.
Moreover, the coronavirus-related death toll increased by 896 over the given period, down from 935 new death registered on Thursday. At the moment, the US reports a total of 113,820 deaths.
At the same time, the number of recoveries has reached 540,292.
The states of New York, which has registered over 400,000 cases and over 30,000 deaths, and New Jersey, with over 165,000 cases and 12,433 deaths, are hit-hardest by the pandemic.
A further 1,111 new positive tests for COVID-19 have been reported in Indonesia over the past 24 hours, raising the overall case total to 36,406, the country’s Ministry of Health reported on Friday, amid a surge of new cases after the government began easing lockdown restrictions.
The latest increase to the case total is the second-largest daily rise reported in Indonesia since the start of the outbreak. On Wednesday, a record 1,240 new cases were reported over a 24-hour period.
The Indonesian Health Ministry also confirmed that 48 people had died from complications related to the coronavirus disease over the preceding 24 hours, raising the COVID-19 death toll in the country to 2,048.
A total of 13,213 people have recovered from the disease in Indonesia, the ministry said.
Turkey has developed a potential drug to treat coronavirus patients, which now is license pending, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said on Friday.
"We have produced an important medication to treat those people who are infected with the coronavirus … We plan to administer it in Turkey and export it," Varank said on the NTV broadcaster.
The minister added that the medication was currently going through the license procedures.
The COVID-19 situation is stabilizing in Turkey, allowing the government to start easing the lockdown measures last month. Shopping malls, barbershops and beauty salons have been allowed to resume work.
On 1 June, Turkey resumed domestic air traffic, which was suspended in April. In early June, Minister of Transport Adil Karaismailoglu said that Turkey is planning to restore air travel with 40 countries later in the month.
The Turkish Airlines flag carrier announced on Friday that it would resume international flights to the Netherlands and major cities of Germany, such as Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich, starting on 11 June, Switzerland on 14 June, Belgium on 15 June, as well as to Austria and the United States later in the month.
The French Ministry of Armed Forces will pour 115,992 euros ($131,000) into research and development of a fabric with resistance to viruses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister Florence Parly said on Friday.
"The Ministry of Armed Forces continues to support innovative projects for combating COVID-19. @Agence_ID [Agence Innovation Defence] will finance € 115,992 for the development of an innovative fabric with anti-viral properties worn by the Serge Ferrari group and the Virhealth laboratory," Parly said on Twitter.
According to the minister, the innovative coating is going to be based on virus-resistant silver particles that prevent viruses from transmitting through surfaces. Among surfaces where the fabric can be used Parly listed tents, mattresses, personal protective suits or door handles.
First samples are going to become available in the end of June, the minister added.
130 million full-time jobs were lost in the first quarter of 2020, and this figure could rise to 305 million in the second quarter of the year, according to a report released by the International Labour Organisation and UNICEF.
Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska has been infected with COVID-19 and placed in outpatient care, the presidential office said on Friday.
"Ukrainian president's wife Olena Zelenska has been tested positive for COVID-19. At the same time, the first lady is feeling well and not showing any symptoms of the disease. Olena Zelenska is currently in ambulatory care, isolated from other family members. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy and the children have also been tested, their results came back negative," the office said via its Telegram channel.
It is yet unclear how or when Zelenska has contracted the infection, the investigation is underway, according to the office. Everyone who has been in contact with the first lady has been warned about the risks of infection.
Ukraine has confirmed a total of 29,753 cases of COVID-19, with the death toll of 870.
The number of coronavirus cases across the African continent has exceeded 215,000 on Friday, just two days after surpassing the 200,000 cases mark, according to data presented by the World Health Organization.
With 215,062 cases across all 54 countries, the WHO counted 5,801 deaths.
South Africa remains the worst affected country with over 58,000 confirmed cases and 1,264 deaths.
WHO Africa in a statement earlier this week warned that the rate of infections is accelerating across the continent, saying that while it took 98 days to reach 100,000 cases, only 18 days were needed for the number to hit 200,000.
The Australian government has updated the terms of the third stage of coronavirus restrictions easing which is set to begin next month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced at a news conference on Friday.
Primarily, the rule restricting gatherings to no more than 100 people is replaced with an area-based calculation system, allowing for no more than one person for every four square meters of a space the event is being held at.
"That 100 cap in step three… will be removed and will be replaced by a four square meter rule application to those premises. So depending on how large your premise is, that four square meter rule applies to each room," the prime minister explained, as quoted in a transcript of his speech published by his office.
Similarly, outdoor, sporting and cultural events can allow seated, ticketed audiences at 25 percent capacity.
Morrison went on to outline lifting restrictions in several fields which is set to be agreed on between the federal and states governments depending on the epidemiological situation in every given region.
Australia appears to be well over the peak of infections in the country, with daily new cases barely exceeding single digits throughout late May and June.
The country has so far detected 7,289 cases of coronavirus infection, including 6,781 recoveries and 102 deaths.
The upper house of the Japanese parliament has approved the allocation of the record 31.91 trillion yen ($298 billion) to add to the 2020 budget for anti-coronavirus measures, the Kyodo news agency reported on Friday.
Japan adds more funds to the budget for the second time this year. In April, Tokyo enacted the 25.69 trillion yen worth extra budget for countering the impact of the coronavirus.
The second extra budget was approved by the lower house on Wednesday. Lawmakers from both houses of the parliament overwhelmingly supported the decision.
The budget envisages allocating funds for health workers, development of drugs, supporting entrepreneurs and the country's regions.
The reserve fund counts 10 trillion yen. According to Kyodo, the opposition was initially against the fact that the budget did not clearly state how the 10 trillion yen would be spent, but eventually agreed to the plan due to urgency.
Russia confirmed 8,987 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the overall tally to 511,423, the national coronavirus response centre said on Friday.
"Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 8,987 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions, of which 3,216 (35.8 percent) have been detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the response center said in a statement.
In total, Russia has recorded 511,423 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions (+1.8 percent), the center added.
Of all the new cases, 1,714 have been registered in Moscow, 730 in the Moscow region and 320 in the Sverdlovsk region.
At the same time, Russia reported 183 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, including 49 in Moscow, 41 in Saint Petersburg and 22 in the Moscow Region. The overall COVID-19 death toll in Russia reached 6,715.
Yemeni health officials have registered 31 cases of COVID-19 over the past day, down from the 36 positive tests reported the previous day, taking the total of those infected to 591, the Health Ministry said early on Friday.
According to the ministry’s daily epidemiological bulletin, new cases were confirmed in the interim capital of Aden and southwestern cities of Taiz and Lahij.
Another seven disease-related fatalities have been recorded, the ministry’s report said. The death toll now stands at 136.
The tally of recoveries remains at 23, and 432 cases are active. The majority of COVID-19 cases – 166 – were registered in Aden, the ministry added.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India has spiked by 10,956 to a total of 297,535, hitting a new record in daily increments, the Health and Family Welfare Ministry announced on Friday.
On Thursday, there were 9,996 new cases.
There are currently 141,842 active cases and 147,195 patients have been discharged. The death toll has increased by 396 to 8,498 over the past day.
"It is too early to say to what extent such a fund will be needed, which is why the 10 billion is a starting point," Finance Minister Nikolai Wammen told Borsen.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Korea has risen by 56 to 12,003 over the past day, the Health Ministry's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Friday.
Out of 56 new cases, 43 resulted from the internal transmission. Twenty-five new cases have been recorded in the capital of Seoul and 19 in the province of Gyeonggi among others.
The death toll has risen by one person and reached 277 people. The number of recovered people has increased to 10,669.
A day earlier, South Korea registered 45 new cases of COVID-19 and no fatalities.
In early April, the daily increase in coronavirus cases in South Korea dropped below 40, later stabilizing at about 10-20 cases. On 6 May, it dipped to two cases. However, later, the authorities discovered a new cluster linked to a young man who visited several clubs in Itaewon and tested positive for COVID-19 on May 6. Since then, several more clusters have been registered.
