Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 4.918 million, almost 241.8 million cases of infection were detected, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from Federal and local authorities, media and other sources.

As of 20:20 GMT Wednesday, the number of cases globally is 241,882,492, including 4,918,709 fatalities. As many as 6.94 billion of vaccine doses have been administered to date.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that the preliminary assessment of Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V was in the final stages, a team of inspectors will soon visit Russia, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said. The RDIF expects the WHO to approve the Sputnik V vaccine in the next couple of months, the fund's CEO Kirill Dmitriev said.

A Moroccan laboratory plans to produce and distribute Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 in the country, documents on cooperation have been already signed, Russia's trade representative in Morocco, Artyom Tsinamdzgvrishvili, said in an interview with Sputnik.

Venezuela will begin using booster doses of coronavirus vaccines in January 2022, President Nicolas Maduro said. Venezuela is studying the possibility of vaccinating children over three years old and adolescents up to 18 years old against coronavirus, Maduro also said.

The Biden administration is getting ready to kick off a massive vaccination program of about 28 million children in the United States aged 5-11 once the food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorizes Pfizer's vaccine against the novel coronavirus that is currently being testsed for this age group, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all the city's public employees, giving them $500 as an incentive and up to nine days to be vaccinated, failing which they will be placed on unpaid leave, the city announced.

The largest New York City Police Department union is suing the city over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, NYC Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced the allocation of up to $120 million to facilitate access for lower-income countries to molnupiravir, an experimental coronavirus drug being developed by US pharmaceutical company Merck & Co in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

The Canadian Olympic Committee said it has notified the country's athletes that they must be "fully vaccinated" against the novel coronavirus in order to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Russia registered 34,073 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, up from 33,740 the day before, bringing the cumulative total to 8,094,825, the federal response center said.

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned that COVID-19 cases could rise to 100,000 a day in the United Kingdom, but stressed that the government will not reintroduce any coronavirus restriction for now.

France faces a real risk of resumption of the COVID-19 crisis, but at this stage it is premature to talk about the beginning of a new wave of the pandemic, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified the new AY4.2 mutation of the Delta COVID-19 variant, but not in any clusters, with Delta continuing to be a predominant strain in the country, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin supported on Wednesday the initiative to introduce paid non-working days across the country between October 30 and November 7 in order to curb the spreading of the coronavirus.

The Senate leadership of the Italian parliament has banned senators from working without a green pass � the COVID-19 vaccination certificate � after a lawmaker refused to present her COVID-19 certificate, Italian media reported.

Polish authorities are preparing to enhance containment measures amid rising COVID cases, Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski stated.

The head of the UK National Health Service (NHS) Confederation, Matthew Taylor, said on Wednesday that the government should reintroduce some anti-covid measures such as mandatory mask wearing in crowded places, work from home and a ban on unnecessary indoor gatherings as hospitals are on the edge of being overwhelmed ahead of winter.

Latvia must take the COVID-19 situation under control within the four weeks allocated for a lockdown, Interior Minister Marija Golubeva said.

The right set of policies undertaken by Russia during the COVID-19 crisis allowed the country to show a strong economic recovery in 2021, International Monetary Fund (IMF) European Department Director Alfred Kammer told reporters.

Ukraine has responded very well to the economic crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic, IMF European Department Director Alfred Kammer told reporters.

An investigation by a Brazilian congressional panel concluded that President Jair Bolsonaro intentionally let COVID-19 kill at least 300,000 Brazilians in a failed bid to achieve herd immunity, the New York Times said, citing an official report set to be released later in the week.