Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2021) The toll of coronavirus cases has topped 119 million globally,�according to the latest update from the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from Federal and local authorities, media and other sources.

This includes 2,644,090 coronavirus-related deaths and over 67.5 million recoveries worldwide.

Over the past day, nearly 492,000 new coronavirus cases were confirmed globally, according to the World Health Organization.

The United States continues to be the country with the highest single toll of confirmed cases and deaths, 29 million and 533,671, respectively.

Brazil overtook India as the country with the second-highest toll of cases, 11.36 million, and continues to maintain the second-highest death toll, 275,105.

India has registered its highest single-day increase in cases so far this year, 24,882, which took the country's total toll to 11.33 million, including 158,446 deaths.

Russia comes the fourth in terms of cases, but with the case count almost thrice as small as India's. The Russian authorities reported 9,908 cases and 475 deaths over the past 24 hours, which took the cumulative toll to 4.3 million cases, including 91,695 deaths.

Poland has reported its highest single-day increase in cases so far this year, 21,049, which took the country's total toll to 1.89 million cases.

Tunisia began the national mass vaccination campaign, using Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. The first-tier recipients include frontline medical workers.

Ethiopia began the national mass vaccination campaign. Earlier this week, the country received its first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine via the COVAX facility in the amount of 2.2 million doses.

AstraZeneca has confirmed new delays in shipments of its vaccine to the European Union. According to the company, the shortfalls are due to "lower-than-expected output from the production process."

Five EU nations � Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Slovenia � have sent a letter to the heads of the European Commission and Council, requesting an immediate discussion of disparities in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines within the bloc, according to the letter circulated by media.

The European Commission responded by saying that the "most fair" solution would be to distribute vaccines among member states based on the size of their population.

In Slovakia, a woman aged 38 died two weeks after inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Italy authorized the the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use. The country is determined to increase the pace of vaccination to 500,000 shots per day in a bid to vaccinate 80 percent of population by mid-September, according to a newly-adopted national plan.

Mayor of France's Nice, Christian Estrosi, has asked the government for permission to procure Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for his region.

Separate clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine on cancer patients have started, with chemotherapy considered the only contraindication for such patients. Other contraindications not related to oncology include severe allergies, such as Quincke's edema.

Russia is poised to vaccinate 70 percent of population by November if maintaining the present vaccination pace, Alexander Gintsburg, the head of the Gamaleya research institute that developed the Sputnik V vaccine, said.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said that athletes competing at the Tokyo Olympics this summer would not necessarily have to undergo COVID-19 vaccination. The athletes will follow the regulations of their respective governments, and the committee will not interfere, Bach said.

�The Philippines reported detecting a brand new variant of the coronavirus. The government labeled it P.3, attributing to it 98 out of over 600,000 COVID-19 cases confirmed in the country.

Colombian armed forces prevented a terrorist attack in the country's northeast, where a dissident revolutionary armed group was preparing to blow up a runway previously used for the shipments of COVID-19 vaccines.

French actress Corinne Masiero, aged 57, undressed naked during a speech at the annual Cesar Awards ceremony as a protest against closures of cultural venues across France to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

US Judge Lora Livingston has allowed the Texas city of Austin to defy Governor Greg Abbott's order that terminated the statewide mask mandate.

Moldova's Supreme Security Council has recommended that the government declare a two-week state of emergency over COVID-19. President Maia Sandu ordered the government to work out a list of restrictions within the next three days.