The United States still has the highest case count in the world; more than 6.14 million people have been infected, of whom at least 186,786 have died and 2,231,757 have recovered.
Brazil's coronavirus cases have topped 4 million; total deaths form the disease have risen to 124,614.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Germany has confirmed 782 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, with the total count reaching 246,948, the Robert Koch Institute said on Friday.
The death toll now stands at 9,319 people, two fatalities less than yesterday after the revision of data by the institute. Some 222,000 people have recovered since the start of the outbreak.
A day earlier, the country confirmed 1,311 new coronavirus cases and eight fatalities.
MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in Mexico, has risen by 513 to 66,329 within the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.
He also said on late Thursday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had increased by 5,937 to 616,894 within the same period of time.
A day earlier, the Latin American nation recorded 4,929 new cases of the coronavirus, with 575 fatalities.
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) – Argentina has confirmed 12,026 new cases of the coronavirus across the country within the past 24 hours marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak, with the total number of people infected with COVID-19 having reached 451,198, the national Ministry of Health said.
A day earlier, Argentina recorded 10,933 new COVID-19 cases and 199 fatalities.
"Today, 12,026 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, bringing the total number of [COVID-19] positive tests in the country to 451,198", the ministry said in a daily bulletin on late Thursday.
The death toll from the coronavirus has risen by 207 to 9,361 people within the same period of time.
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil has increased by 43,773 to 4,041,638 within the past 24 hours, the national Ministry of Health said on late Thursday.
The death toll has risen by 834 to 124,614 people within the same period of time. The number of recovered patients has reached 3,247,610.
A day earlier, Brazil reported 46,934 new cases of the coronavirus disease and 1,184 new fatalities.
Brazil comes second in terms of coronavirus cases after the United States, which has recorded more than 6.1 million COVID-19 patients.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed 25.8 million worldwide, while almost 860,000 deaths from the disease have been recorded since the start of the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its daily situation report on Thursday.
According to the WHO, 279,338 new infections and 6,318 coronavirus-related fatalities have been recorded globally in the past 24 hours.
Given the update, the global number of confirmed cases since the outbreak has now reached 25,884,895, while the death toll has risen to 859,130, the report said.
Most cases and fatalities — 13.6 million and 473,437, respectively — remain concentrated in the Americas. The United States continues to lead with the highest single count of cases and fatalities — 6.01 million and 183,610, respectively.
ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkey recorded 1,642 COVID-19 cases and 49 related deaths in the last 24-hour period, which is a record daily rise since mid-May, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday.
Koca announced a day earlier that the pandemic in the country had reached its second peak.
"Today, 1,642 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified, taking the tally to 274,943. A total of 49 patients have died, and the overall death toll reached 6,511", the minister wrote on Twitter.
At the same time, the number of recoveries increased by 1,211 to 248,087 over the given period.
The biggest COVID-19 cluster is said to be in Ankara, which has twice as many cases as in Istanbul.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow has registered 10 deaths of patients infected with COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian capital's death toll to 4,867, the city's coronavirus response centre said in a statement on Thursday.
"Another 10 patients, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow", the centre said.
In the previous day, 13 people infected with the coronavirus died in Moscow.
WASHINGTON, September 3 (Sputnik) - White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany told reporters on Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not being pressured by anybody to approve a novel coronavirus vaccine before the upcoming November 3 presidential elections as has been alleged by the mainstream media.
"No one is pressuring the FDA to do anything," McEnany said. "This is again a bizarre theory spun up by CNN among others."
McEnany said US President Donald Trump wants to break through the regulatory barriers so that a vaccine can be produced and provided to the American people as quickly as possible.
"But he will not in any way sacrifice safety and making sure that is 100 percent airtight for the American people to receive it," McEnany said. "So, the priority here is saving lives, safety, and there will be a safe and effective vaccine in the works."
On Sunday, FDA head Stephen Hahn said in an interview the agency is ready to authorize a coronavirus vaccine before the end of phase 3 clinical trials if such a move proves to bring more benefits than risks.
Hahn also said FDA’s authorization for the emergency use of a potential vaccine did not equal full approval. FDA’s decisions would be based on science and medicine and not on politics or the upcoming election, he added.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which has invested in the development of two vaccines to prevent the novel coronavirus disease, hopes to launch global deliveries in the first half of 2021, CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett said on Thursday.
"Our ambitious goal was to have the vaccines ... more broadly available within 12 to 18 months starting from the initiation of the program which means in the fist half of 2021 and right now we think we are still on target potentially to begin delivering vaccines more broadly in the first half of 2021," Hatchett said at a WHO briefing.
CEPI previously said it planned to provide up to two billion doses of a vaccine by the end of 2021.
"Two of the vaccines that CEPI has funded – the vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the vaccine being developed by Novavax – are now being tested in South Africa. They are the first vaccines to be tested on the African continent," Hatchett added.
Nigeria is undertaking all possible measures to lower prices on food in the wake of an economic recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday.
"We are very mindful of the challenge of high food prices, at a time when the economy is already in a slowdown caused by the global coronavirus situation, and are doing everything in our power to bring down the prices of food items across the country," Buhari wrote on Twitter.
The president added in a separate tweet that Nigerian animal feed producers would receive a total of 30,000 tonnes of maize from the national reserves.
Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa, with the oil sector being its most significant revenue earner. However, according to the latest data, the Western African country's GDP has contracted by 6.1 percent in the second quarter due to the coronavirus outbreak.
At least 7,000 health workers have died across the globe after contracting COVID-19 while treating patients, a prominent international watchdog said on Thursday.
"For over seven thousand people to die while trying to save others is a crisis on a staggering scale. Every health worker has the right to be safe at work, and it is a scandal that so many are paying the ultimate price," Steve Cockbum, the head of Economic and Social Justice at Amnesty International said as quoted in a press release.
According to the watchdog, high numbers of health workers deaths were recorded in Mexico (1,320), the United States (1,077), Russia (634), Brazil (634), India (573), South Africa (240) and other states where infection and death rates have been high throughout the pandemic.
"There must be global cooperation to ensure all health workers are provided with adequate protective equipment, so they can continue their vital work without risking their own lives," Cockbum added.
All volunteers for the Stage 1 of clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine of Russian research center Vektor have developed antibodies, the press service of the Russian consumer health watchdog told Sputnik.
Earlier on the Thursday. the government agency said that all trial participants had been discharged from the hospital and feeling well.
When asked how many of the volunteers have developed antibodies, the watchdog said, "All nine of them."
Russia has registered 4,995 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, which brings the cumulative total to 1,009,995, the coronavirus response centre said Thursday.
No cases have been reported in Nenets autonomous region and Chukotka. Moscow reported 690 cases, St. Petersburg 191, the Moscow region 163.
In this period, the country has also registered 114 deaths, bringing the total to 17,528, and 5,766 recoveries, bringing the total to 826,935.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree on resumption of air travel with Egypt, the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, the press service of the cabinet said Thursday.
The prime minister also signed a decree on multiple border crossings for Russians whose relatives live abroad and require special care.
Two multinational pharmaceutical companies, France's Sanofi and UK's GSK, on Thursday announced the start of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for their jointly developed COVID-19 vaccine.
"Following encouraging pre-clinical study results, today Sanofi and @GSK announce the start of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for our #COVID19 vaccine," Sanofi said on Twitter.
Kazakhstan has registered, over the past 24 hours, 88 cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), bringing the total number of cases to 106,032, an interdepartmental commission said.
The country's death toll from COVID-19 has risen by six to 1,606. More than 97,900 people have recovered.
"A total of 88 new cases of coronavirus infection have been registered, of whom 55 are symptomatic carriers, 33 asymptomatic carriers," the commission said in a statement.
The day before, the number of cases increased by 72 and the death count by six.
India has confirmed 83,883 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak, with the total number of those infected having reached 3,853,407, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Thursday.
The death toll from the disease has reached 67,376 people, with 1,043 new fatalities being recorded over the past day. More than 2.97 million people have recovered in India since the start of the epidemic.
India comes third in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, following the United States and Brazil.
A day earlier, India registered 78,357 new coronavirus cases and 1,045 fatalities.
