Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 710,000, almost 18.9 million cases of infection were detected, and over 11.4 million of those patients were cured, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from federal and local authorities, media and other sources.

As of 19:30 GMT Thursday, the number of cases globally is 18,897,857, including 710,136 fatalities.

The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 4,854,690, including 159,433 fatalities and 1,577,851 recoveries.

The United States has lifted its health advisory for international travel during the novel coronavirus pandemic, the US State Department said in a statement.

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko on Thursday asked city residents not to visit other Japanese prefectures during the summer holiday season as the coronavirus infection rate has increased recently, the NHK broadcaster reported.

The European Union might reconsider its stance on Russian sanctions amid the growing autonomy brought about by the coronavirus-related economic shocks, Vittorio Torrembini, the president of the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs in Russia (GIM-Unimpresa), told Sputnik in an interview.

None of the Italian companies working in Russia left market during the COVID-19 crisis, Torrembini also said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) will increase the scope of support to 11 African countries experiencing a surge in new coronavirus cases and deaths, with the emphasis on reinforcing the testing capacity in non-central locations, WHO Africa said in a statement.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn appeared to downplay the warning that the country was in the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, saying the health care system's ability to cope was what really mattered.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered comprehensive assistance be provided to the city of Kaesong, as it has been isolated over coronavirus concerns, the official Korean Central news Agency (KCNA) reported.

Six coronavirus vaccine candidates are in the final stage of testing globally, Mike Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organization's emergencies program, said. Of the six vaccines at the forefront of human testing three are being researched in China. Two tests are being run by US pharma giant Pfizer and biotech firm Moderna, and one by the University of Oxford and UK's AstraZeneca.

The effectiveness of the best new vaccines against the novel coronavirus may be 50 percent to 60 percent or as high 90 percent, but there is no way of knowing until the trials for them are done, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci said. COVID-19 may return in a seasonal way that can hopefully be controlled, Fauci also said.

The US began recruiting 1,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients from for a clinical trial that combines the anti-viral drug remdesivir with a type interferon used to treat multiple sclerosis, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine on humans would begin after the Jewish holidays in October.

Russia's Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) said on Thursday it had received a patent for domestic drug Leitragin, which could prevent or mitigate complications from coronavirus.

All the volunteers who take part in the trials of a coronavirus vaccine at Russia's State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector are feeling fine and have no complaints, the country's public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, told Sputnik.

Rwanda uses robots to protect doctors who treat COVID-19 patients through minimizing contact, Health Minister Daniel Ngamije said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the National Health Service (NHS)�s coronavirus test and trace system as world-beating, in spite that recently released data showed that one out of five positive cases have not been reached.