Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2020) The worldwide number of confirmed coronavirus disease cases has risen above 12,770,000, as the global death toll has also surpassed 566,000, according to data provided by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center on Sunday.

Leading US health official Adm. Brett Giroir warned that a surge in deaths can be expected in the coming weeks following a sustained increase in new cases in the United States. Giroir called for bars and restaurants to limit the number of people allowed into establishments as part of efforts to slow the second wave of the outbreak in the country.

After breaking the single-day record for COVID-19 cases on two consecutive days, the number of new positive tests in the United States fell by more than 5,000 on Sunday, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

According to the World Health Organization, which also reports global COVID-19 statistics, a single day global record of 230,370 cases were registered over the past 24 hours, an increase of 10,087 compared to Saturday's corresponding rise.

The US still sits at the top of the global case toll and death toll figures. According to the Johns Hopkins University, 3.27 million positive tests have now been confirmed, and the country's death toll has surpassed 134,904. A total of 61,352 new positive tests were reported in the US over the past day.

A drop in new cases was also registered in Brazil, which has the second-highest case total. On Saturday, more than 39,000 new cases were reported over the preceding 24 hours, down from the 45,000 new positive tests reported the day before. The South American country's case total now stands at 1,839,850, with the death toll sitting at 71,469 after 1,071 new fatalities were reported.

India broke its daily record in new cases once more as 28,637 new positive tests were registered over the past 24 hours. The country's case total now stands at 849,553, and the death toll has risen by 551 to 22,674, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Sunday.

Famous Indian movie stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai have both announced their positive tests for the disease over the past day.

Russia has recorded 6,615 new positive tests over the past day, bringing the cumulative total to 727,162 the country's coronavirus response center said. The death toll has grown to 11,335 after 130 people died during the preceding 24 hours, down from 188 on Saturday.

In Central Asia, which has seen a resurgence of the disease, 1,798 new positive tests were recorded in Kazakhstan, bringing the country's case total to 58,253.

Iran's COVID-19 death toll has risen to 12,829 after 194 new fatalities were reported over the past 24 hours, a Ministry of Health spokeswoman said.

Indonesia's case total has also surpassed 75,000 after 1,681 new positive tests were registered.

US PRESIDENT TRUMP WEARS MASK FOR FIRST TIME

Donald Trump wore a mask while visiting the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, which is the first time since the start of the coronavirus disease pandemic that the US president has been seen with a face covering in public.

Trump met wounded soldiers and health care workers at the medical facility. Photos from the visit show him wearing a navy blue face mask with a golden presidential seal on the side.

HUNGARY REINTRODUCES BORDER RESTRICTIONS

Hungary will reintroduce restrictions on international travel from Wednesday, the chief of staff of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Gergely Gulyas, said at a press briefing on Sunday. According to Gulyas, the decision has been made to ensure that lockdown measures within the country do not have to be brought back.

The measures will see Hungarian citizens returning from countries that are deemed medium or high risk undergo health checks and enter 14 days of self-isolation. Countries on the list include Russia, the United Kingdom, Albania, and Romania.

The reintroduction of border controls in Hungary put into doubt the staging of a Formula 1 race in the country next weekend, although the racing series confirmed to a BBC reporter that the event will go ahead.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tabled a proposal to offer economic subsidies worth up to $2,169 to self-employed people who have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus disease pandemic, according to a joint statement published by the prime minister's office and the Finance Ministry on Sunday.

Thousands of Israeli citizens staged a protest in the city of Tel Aviv on Saturday evening against the government's handling of the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly 20 protesters were detained by law enforcement officers, a spokesman for the Israeli police, Mikhail Zingerman, told Sputnik.

Police in Serbia have discovered supplies of Molotov cocktails and gas masks during searches of buildings linked to protesters amid a week of violent clashes after the government reintroduced lockdown measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, Belgrade's Deputy Mayor Goran Vesic said on Sunday.

Late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's funeral will be held online to comply with South Korea's coronavirus-related restrictive measures, the Yonhap news Agency reported on Sunday, citing the ceremony's preparation committee.

Park was found dead in the woods of Mount Bugak not far from his residence on Thursday after an hours-long search involving hundreds of police officers, dogs, and drones. Park's body will be transferred from the Seoul National University hospital to City Hall on Monday morning, the agency noted, adding that the ceremony was expected to start at 08:30 local time (23:30 GMT).

The clinical trials of the world's first coronavirus vaccine on volunteers at Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University have been successfully completed, Vadim Tarasov, the director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, told Sputnik, adding that the first group of volunteers would be discharged on Wednesday and the second on July 20.

According to Alexander Lukashev, the director of the Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-Borne Diseases at Sechenov University, the objective of this stage of the study was to show the vaccine's safety for human health, which was successfully done.

Researchers in Thailand have also announced that animal tests of a potential vaccine against COVID-19 have been completed, adding that testing can begin on human volunteers in the fall.

Kiat Ruxrungtham, director of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University vaccine development program, said that work is underway to produce 10,000 doses of the potential vaccine.