Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus in the world tops 3.8 million, over 177 million cases of infection were detected, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

As of 19:30 GMT Thursday, the number of cases globally is 177,194,643, including 3,835,923 fatalities.

The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 33,501,656 cases, including 600,705 fatalities.

Russia registered 14,057 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, up from 13,397 the day before, which brought the cumulative total to 5,264,047, the Federal response center said.

At least 19 variants of coronavirus have been identified in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, Instituto Butantan, a Brazilian biologic research center, said in a statement.

The US has reported 12,190 COVID-19 new daily infections over the past week, a new low of seven-day average since the beginning of the pandemic, with deaths and hospitalization also in decline, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.

About 70% of citizens of EU countries have already been vaccinated against coronavirus or want to get the shot in the near future, according to the public opinion poll published by Eurobarometer

Total vaccination against COVID-19 is out of the question in Russia, regional authorities just act within their mandate when they introduce compulsory vaccination for certain categories of employees, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured.

Peskov gave his backing to obligatory vaccination of certain categories of workers in some Russian regions, as well as the admission of only vaccinated students to in-person studies.

A single-dose Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine will enter into circulation in 1.5 weeks and will be used for re-vaccination, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said.

German biotech firm CureVac said its experimental vaccine against COVID-19 was 47% effective in the late stage of clinical trials.

The post-registration clinical trials of Russia's EpiVacCorona vaccine against COVID-19, developed by the Vector research center, will be completed by the end of July, Vector chief Rinat Maksyutov said.

The developers of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine will soon present a booster shot against the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which was first detected in India, according to the official Twitter account of the vaccine.

The Japanese government intends to introduce coronavirus vaccination passports in the second half of July, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced during a government meeting the lifting of the coronavirus-related state of emergency in nine prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, on June 20, as broadcast by NHK.

The Hong Kong government has added Russia's Sputnik V to the list of COVID-19 vaccines recognized in the special autonomous region for special purposes, the Russian Consulate General said.

Estonia will donate excess doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX shot-sharing scheme and directly to countries that need them, the prime minister said.

The chief executive of the Russian state bioresearch center Vector said that the first batches of the EpiVacCorona vaccine would likely reach Brazil and Venezuela in fall.

The COVID-19 pandemic made the world less peaceful in 2020, with over 5,000 violent anti-lockdown protests worldwide generating civil unrest and political instability, according to the Global Peace Index by the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP).

A delegation of Russian experts arrived in Turkey to assess the epidemiological situation at tourist facilities, a knowledgeable source told Sputnik.

The amusement park Disneyland in the French capital of Paris announced it is reopening after being closed for more than eight months.