Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2020) The global COVID-19 case total, as of 16:30 GMT on Sunday, has surpassed 28.8 million, as the total number of deaths confirmed worldwide also rises above 921,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Over the past 24 hours, one European leader has said that his country is in the midst of its second wave, as the epidemiological situation in India also continues to raise concern.

After breaking the world record for the largest single-day increase in the coronavirus disease case total two days running, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare registered 94,372 new positive tests over the preceding 24 hours. This figure is a slight decrease from the 97,750 new cases registered on Saturday.

India still has the world's second-highest COVID-19 case total, as public health officials have now registered 4.75 million cases.

Brazil is in third place with 4.3 million cases, and the country's Ministry of Health confirmed 33,523 new positive tests and 814 deaths over the past 24 hours.

According to the Johns Hopkins University, 6.49 million positive tests have been registered in the United States as of Sunday evening, the most of any country since the start of the pandemic. Some 41,471 new positive tests were confirmed in the US over the past 24 hours, according to the university.

As fears of a second wave in Europe continue, the Czech Ministry of Health announced that 1,541 new positive tests had been registered over the past 24 hours, a new single-day record for the country.

The South Korean authorities will ease the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions that have impacted Seoul's coffee shops and restaurants, amid a fall in the number of new cases, Park Neung-hoo, the minister of health and welfare, said at a press briefing on Sunday.

Coffee shop chains, bakeries, and many other eateries in Seoul will be allowed to open in full from Monday, although limits will remain on the number of clients permitted to be inside the premises.

Additionally, these facilities must keep customer logs.

As the South Korean government eases restrictions, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz admitted on Sunday that the European country is in the midst of its second wave of COVID-19.

From 22:00 GMT on Sunday, the wearing of masks that cover both mouth and nose will become mandatory in almost all public places in Austria. The government will also reduce the limit on the number of people allowed to attend private gatherings and indoor public events.

More than 70 people were arrested at an anti-lockdown protest in the Australian city of Melbourne on Sunday, according to the 7News broadcaster.

Nine people were arrested in Jerusalem on Saturday during a demonstration against the government and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Israeli police said on Sunday.

Thousands of people gathered in the city to protest against the government's handling of the epidemiological crisis, ahead of a vote on a plan to impose a full lockdown during the upcoming Rosh Hashanah holidays.

In the United States, political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have attempted to assert pressure on the country's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over the publication of its COVID-19 mortality updates, the Washington Post newspaper reports.

According to HHS lead spokesman Michael Caputo, who spoke to the newspaper, the publication of COVID-19 mortality statistics is not merely a scientific matter, adding that it also has political connotations.

A scheduled Russian Premier League soccer match between Rotor Volgograd and FC Krasnodar was postponed after an outbreak of COVID-19 within the Volgograd club. On Saturday, seven players tested positive for the disease, and more positive tests were registered on Sunday.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon confirmed on Sunday that 90 of its peacekeepers in the country have tested positive for the coronavirus disease.