Beijing students will go back to school in batches in the coming fall semester beginning August, as the coronavirus epidemic has waned in the city.

According to the notice released by Beijing education authorities on Sunday, students of one-to-twelve grades are scheduled to go back to school from August 29 to September 7. Kindergarten students will return from September 8 to 11.

Universities, colleges and higher vocational institutions capable of epidemic prevention and control can arrange freshmen to register and other students to return in batches since beginning 15. Schools themselves can decide the specific time of returning according to their own conditions but have to report and get approval from local authorities.

The after-school training institutions can also apply for resuming in-person classes and other collective events.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in late January, most schools across China have moved their classes online. It was until early March that schools in northwest China's Qinghai Province became the first in the country to resume in-person class, and schools in Beijing and hardest-hit Hubei Province were among the last to resume gradually since late April.

But because of a new wave of COVID-19 cases in Beijing in June, some university students did not have a chance to return to Beijing campus during the whole spring semester. Therefore, the notice marks a full reopening of schools.

Universities in other low-risk regions of China are also preparing to welcome students back to campus. Anhui Medical University has already had its first batch of freshmen registered on campus, the first in the country. And Wuhan University announced to start the fall semester on September 6.

(Cover image via CFP)

U.S. COVID-19 infections exceed 5 million: Johns Hopkins

The number of COVID-19 infections in the United States surpassed 5 million on Sunday, according to data released by Johns Hopkins University, with over 162,000 deaths reported.

For generations, residents of east China's Huangshan City have relied on sumptuous tourist resources to make a living. But the coronavirus pandemic has changed everything. Though the pandemic has been largely brought under control in China, the recovery in tourism sector remains lackluster given sporadic infections and border restrictions. However, it's not all bad. While putting everything in the doldrums, the pandemic has allowed locals to pause for reflection.

Hong Kong reports 72 new COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) reported 72 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, of which 63 are locally transmitted and nine imported, local health authorities said in a daily briefing on Sunday. 

The Asian financial hub has registered close to 4,100 COVID-19 cases and 51 deaths since January.

Russia's COVID-19 cases surpass 885,000

Russia on Sunday reported 5,189 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, bringing its national tally to 887,536.

Health authorities also said 77 more people died from COVID-19 overnight, raising the country's death toll to 14,931.

Tokyo confirms 331 new cases of COVID-19 infections on Sunday

The Tokyo metropolitan government confirmed at least 331 new cases of coronavirus infections on Sunday, NHK reported, citing local health authority.

75% infected in Texas prison as U.S. COVID-19 cases top 5 million

Numerous inmates in Texas federal prison are fearing for their lives as coronavirus has been spreading around every corner of the jail. Nearly 75 percent of inmates have tested positive for the virus, according to data from the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Outside the prison, one out of every 66 Americans have infected as the coronavirus cases have topped five million, with more than 160,000 deaths, nearly a quarter of the world's total.

Among the five million infected Americans, more than 338,000 children tested positive as of the end of July and more than 25 children died in July alone, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The coronavirus has "extraordinarily widespread" in the U.S., White House coronavirus experts said last week. 

Since the infection rate is far to achieve a herd immunity in the country, and the federal government has done little to curb the spreading, it seems that President Donald Trump's recent moves like urging children to go back to school and pushing for economy reopening, will make the number of coronavirus cases surge continuously in the foreseeable future.

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Japanese researchers found that the novel coronavirus that has transmitted in Japan since June is a variant of a European strain,  the Japan Times reported on Friday.

Researchers from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases collected samples from about 3,700 patients in Japan for the genome sequence study.

They found that the country's outbreak in mid-March was mainly caused by a European strain of the novel coronavirus. The spread of the virus waned in May due to containment measures. However, a month later, a variant of the virus, with a new genetic sequence, appeared centered in Tokyo and spread throughout the country.

In mid-June "an apparent variant of the European type was found in Tokyo that is believed to have emerged after more than three months of mutations," according to the Japan Times. "And a virus derived from that variant was later found in many other parts of Japan."

The research also suggested that the virus reemerged in June and might have been transmitted quietly among younger carriers, with mild or no symptoms, making it hard for public health centers to detect it.

Japan now has over 48,000 infections and reported more than 1,500 new cases in a single day for two consecutive days, according to the data released by NHK News on Sunday.

Here's the global update on COVID-19

Brazil has registered more than three million novel coronavirus cases and over 100,000 deaths, the government reported on Saturday.

The Colombian Ministry of Health on Saturday reported 9,674 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 376,870, with 12,540 deaths.

Morocco on Saturday reported 1,345 new COVID-19 cases, the biggest single-day increase so far, taking the total number of infections in the country to 32,007.

Egypt confirmed on Saturday 167 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country to 95,314, said the Health Ministry. It is the seventh consecutive day the country sees less than 200 daily COVID-19 infections.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 1,333 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the total number to 82,324. According to the ministry, the death toll reached 593 with 12 new fatalities.

(With input from Xinhua)

The Chinese mainland registered 23 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday, with eight cases from overseas and 15 domestically transmitted, Chinese health authority said Sunday. 

All of the 15 domestically-transmitted cases are in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 

No deaths related to the disease were reported Saturday, while 45 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. 

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows: 

Hong Kong: 4,007 (2,755 recoveries, 47 deaths) 

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries) 

Taiwan: 477 (441 recoveries, 7 deaths)

In May, Brazil became the country with the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases after the United States. 

Last month, President Jair Bolsonaro signed into law the use of protective masks on a national level. 

But some cities didn't wait and went beyond: they are imposing fines on people failing to wear them.

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday signed new executive orders extending financial relief in an attempt to restore enhanced unemployment payments to the tens of millions of Americans who lost jobs in the coronavirus pandemic when the United States marked a grim milestone of five million cases.

The orders will also suspend some payroll taxes, impose a partial moratorium on evictions and extend the offering of some student loan relief that's set to expire in September, to the end of the year.

According to Trump, the orders would provide an extra 400 U.S. dollars per week in unemployment payments, less than the 600 U.S. dollars per week passed earlier in the crisis. The payroll tax cut would apply to people earning less than 100,000 U.S. dollars a year. Trump said if he is reelected, he would look into making this tax cut permanent.

The four measures were signed after negotiations between his administration and Democrats broke up this week. Some of the measures were likely to face legal challenges, as the U.S. Constitution gives Congress authority over federal spending.

Trump's move to take relief measures out of the hands of Congress drew immediate criticism from some Democrats. "Donald Trump is trying to distract from his failure to extend the 600 U.S. dollars federal boost for 30 million unemployed workers by issuing illegal executive orders," said Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

"This scheme is a classic Donald Trump con: play-acting at leadership while robbing people of the support they desperately need."

The Democratic-majority House of Representatives passed a coronavirus support package in May which the Republican-led Senate ignored.

Trump, on the other hand, accused Democrats of filling their COVID-19 relief bill with priorities unrelated to the virus. "This is the money they need, this is the money they want, this gives them an incentive to go back to work," the Republican president said of the lower payments. He said 25 percent of it would be paid by states, whose budgets have been hard hit by the health crisis.

Republicans have argued that higher payments were a disincentive for unemployed Americans to try to return to work, though economists, including Federal Reserve officials, dispute that assertion.

Trump initially played down the disease's threat and has drawn criticism for inconsistent messages on public health steps such as social distancing and masks. He was forced to change the tune after rapid infection cases surges with death toll mounting to 160,000 across the country.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Saturday launched her re-election campaign promising a "laser-like" focus on boosting jobs and economic growth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The charismatic 40-year-old leader is on track for a comfortable victory in the Sept. 19 election, topping 60 percent in the latest surveys following her leadership through the Christchurch mosque attacks, the White Island volcanic eruption and the pandemic, according to opinion polls.

In a country of five million people, New Zealand has had only 22 COVID-19 deaths and it has been 99 days since the last recorded case of infection from an unknown source. 

"When people ask, is this a COVID(-19) election, my answer is yes, it is," Ardern said as she launched the campaign with a 311 million New Zealand dollar (205 million U.S. dollar) pledge to boost jobs.

Labour is the senior partner in a three-party coalition government but if it can maintain the support shown in recent opinion polls, where it has consistently been above 50 percent, it could govern alone after the election. 

The centerpiece of Labour's campaign is to support businesses in hiring at least 40,000 people whose employment has been affected by the coronavirus. 

It pledged to expand existing job schemes to help employers hire staff at risk of long-term unemployment. 

It will also help out-of-work New Zealanders start a business through an expanded self-employment program which will provide the equivalent of the minimum wage for up to 30 hours a week. 

"If you had told me then that our launch in 2020 would be in the midst of a global pandemic with our borders closed – I would have found that very hard to fathom," she said.

Ardern's stratospheric rise in 2017 to become New Zealand's youngest prime minister and third woman to hold the office has been dubbed "Jacinda-mania" by some.

(With input from AFP and Reuters)

Hong Kong reports 69 new COVID-19 cases

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) reported 69 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, of which 67 are locally transmitted. According to the region's Center for Health Protection, the total number of confirmed cases has exceeded 4,000.

One more death was also recorded, pushing the total death toll to 47.

On Friday, HKSAR's Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said the government had distributed about 28 million disposable adult masks to about 2.8 million residential addresses in the past month.

Russia reports more than 5,200 new coronavirus cases

The Russian authorities reported 5,212 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, pushing its national tally to 882,347, the fourth largest in the world.

The death toll rose to 14,854 after officials said 129 people have died in the last 24 hours.

Latest developments on the global pandemic

India on Saturday saw an increase of 61,537 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising its total tally to 2,088,611. Health officials also recorded 933 new deaths, as the death toll now stands at 42,518.

Australia's state of Victoria recorded 466 new cases and 12 deaths on Saturday. It now has registered 14,283 coronavirus infections, accounting for 70 percent of the country's total number of cases. The death toll in Victoria rose to 193.

Mexico reported 6,717 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 469,407. Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 51,311 with 794 new fatalities added overnight.

Argentina has reported over 7,000 new cases for three days in a row, as health authorities recorded 7,482 new cases on Friday. It now has 235,677 total cases and 4,411 deaths.

Brazil has registered nearly 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, health officials said on Friday. It reported 1,079 deaths and 99,572 new cases over the past 24 hours, raising its total number of infections to 2,962,442.

The Chinese mainland registered 31 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, with 6 cases from overseas and 25 domestically transmitted, Chinese health authority said Saturday. 

All of the 25 domestically-transmitted cases are in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 

No deaths related to the disease were reported Friday, while 35 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. 

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows: 

Hong Kong: 3,938 (2,620 recoveries, 47 deaths) 

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries) 

Taiwan: 477 (441 recoveries, seven deaths) 
 

Mexico's health ministry reported on Wednesday 829 new COVID-19 deaths, taking its national toll from the pandemic to 49,698.

U.S. researchers have projected that nearly 300,000 people in the country could die of COVID-19 by December, with the number to exceed 180,000 by the end of this month.

Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington predict 295,011 deaths as of December 1, based on their model projecting the pandemic, the institute said on Thursday.

But consistently wearing masks can help relieve the situation, reminded the IHME.

"Starting today, if 95 percent of the people in the U.S. were to wear masks when leaving their homes, that total number would decrease to 228,271 deaths, a drop of 49 percent," the IHME said on its website. "And more than 66,000 lives would be saved."

Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the IHME, warned that inconsistent practice of protective measures is "a serious problem."

Murray said that people in the U.S. practice such measures like wearing masks and social distancing more frequently as infections increase, but let their guard down and stop taking these measures as infections drop, which leads to more infections. "And the potentially deadly cycle starts over again."

Meanwhile, the number of the tests for COVID-19 has declined in 29 states, including the worst-hit Florida and Texas.

Clusters of infections are also taking place in the country. About 80 percent of Texas's more than 1,200 nursing homes have reported cases, reported local media outlet Spectrum News on Tuesday, adding that July "saw an explosion of cases" compared to June.

The U.S. now has over 4.8 million infections and its death toll has exceeded 160,000, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.

Latest on COVID-19 pandemic around the world

Russia reported 5,241 new cases on Friday, pushing its national tally to 877,135, the fourth largest in the world. The death toll rose to 14,725 after 119 people had died across the country in the last 24 hours.

The Philippines recorded 3,379 new cases, with 24 more deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 122,754 and death toll to 2,168. Its health department said on Friday that it would focus on the elimination of cluster infections.

Indonesia's total number rose by 2,473 within one day to 121,226, with the death toll adding by 72 to 5,593, and 1,912 people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 77,557.

Belgium reported 858 new cases on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 72,016 and death toll climbed to 9,681, with an average of three deaths per day and 54 confirmed infections per 100,000 people.

Oman confirmed 354 new cases, with 10 more deaths, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 81,067, including 502 deaths. The government lifted closures between provinces ahead of schedule, starting from Friday.

Poland reported 809 new COVID-19 cases and 13 more deaths on Friday, the sixth record daily rise in two weeks, pushing the total number of confirmed cases to 50,324 and 1,787 deaths. Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin ruled out a new nationwide lockdown and anti-epidemic measures, including compulsory wearing of protective face masks outside the home.

India hits 2 million cases as health volunteers strike

As India hit another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, crossing 2 million cases and more than 41,000 deaths, community health volunteers went on strike complaining they were ill-equipped to respond to the wave of infection in rural areas.

Even as India has maintained comparatively low mortality rates, the disease trajectory varies widely across the country with the burden shifting from cities with relatively robust health systems to rural areas, where resources are scarce or nonexistent.

India has been the third nation to pass that unwanted milestone, lagging behind only the United States and Brazil.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will provide free COVID-19 tests for all residents in an effort to contain the ongoing outbreak, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Friday.

The citywide testing is voluntary and likely to be implemented in two weeks at the earliest, Lam said, adding that the testing is carried out by three testing agencies from the Chinese mainland and some health officials will assist in the testing.

HKSAR reported 89 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, 81 of which are locally transmitted, and the total number of confirmed cases has surpassed 3,900 with 46 deaths, according to the region's Center for Health Protection. 

 U.S. COVID-19 deaths top 160,000

U.S. COVID-19 deaths have surpassed the 160,000 mark to reach 160,090 as of 21:48 p.m. local time on Thursday (0148 GMT Friday), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

COVID-19 cases in India surpass two million mark  

India's COVID-19 tally breached the two million mark on Friday, according to the central health ministry.

South Korea to lift ban on travelers from China's Hubei Province 

South Korea will lift a ban on travelers from central China's Hubei Province starting next Monday, a government official said on Friday.

An absence of new confirmed cases in Hubei recently is cited as the basis for the decision, Yoon Tae-ho, a senior South Korean health ministry official, told a briefing.

Global coronavirus infections hit 19 million: Johns Hopkins

Global cases of the new coronavirus hit 19 million on Friday, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Africa's confirmed coronavirus cases have surpassed the milestone of one million, but global health experts say the true figure is likely several times higher, reflecting the gaping lack of testing for the continent's 1.3 billion people.

While experts say infection tolls in richer nations can be significantly undercounted, large numbers of undetected cases are a greater danger for Africa, with many of the world's weakest health systems.

The World Health Organization calls the milestone a "pivotal point" for Africa as infections in several countries are surging. The virus has spread beyond major cities "into distant hinterlands" where few health resources exist and accessing care could take days.

Immediately knowing they were at a disadvantage, African nations banded together early in the pandemic to pursue badly needed testing and medical supplies and advocate for equitable access to any successful vaccine. Swift border closures delayed the virus' spread.

But Africa's most developed country, South Africa, has strained to cope as hospital beds fill up and confirmed cases are over a half-million, ranking fifth in the world. The country has Africa's most extensive testing and data collection network and yet a South African Medical Research Council report last week showed many COVID-19 deaths were going uncounted. Other deaths were attributed to other diseases as people avoid health centers and resources are diverted to the pandemic.

It's all a warning for Africa's other 53 countries of what might lie ahead. While dire early predictions for the pandemic have not played out, "we think it's going to be here at a slow burn," the WHO's Africa chief, Matshidiso Moeti, said Thursday.

Just two African countries at the start of the pandemic were equipped to test for the virus. Now virtually all have basic capacity, but supplies are often scarce. Some countries have a single testing machine. Some conduct fewer than 500 tests per million people, while richer countries overseas conduct hundreds of thousands. Samples can take days to reach labs. Even in South Africa, turnaround times for many test results have been a week or longer.

In addition, Africa has just 1,500 epidemiologists, a deficit of about 4,500.

"We are fighting this disease in the dark," International Rescue Committee expert Stacey Mearns said. 

African nations overall have conducted just 8.8 million tests since the pandemic began, well below the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's goal of 13 million per month. Countries would love to increase testing if only supplies weren't being snapped up by richer ones elsewhere.

Africa CDC director John Nkengasong said estimating the true number of cases on the continent is "very tricky." Some 70 percent of infections are asymptomatic, he has said. Africa's young population also might be a factor. Without a dramatic increase in testing, "there's much we don't know."

But some experts are making their best guesses.

Africa likely has at least five million infections, said Ridhwaan Suliman, a senior researcher at South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. He believes the true number in South Africa alone is at least 3 million. The country has conducted far more tests than any other in Africa — more than three million — but in recent days about 25 percent have come back positive. Because of shortages, South Africa largely limits testing to health workers and those showing symptoms.

Experts see South Africa as an indication of what's to come elsewhere.

Sema Sgaier, an assistant professor of global health at Harvard and director of the Surgo Foundation, thinks the number of infections across Africa could be more than nine million. The U.S.-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation puts the number at more than 8 million. And Resolve to Save Lives, led by Tom Frieden, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates it could be 14 million.

For Resolve to Save Lives senior vice president Amanda McClelland, the more worrying number is not the overall cases but the health workers infected across Africa — now about 35,000. That affects care for everyone on a continent whose shortage of workers has been called catastrophic.

Reflecting the pandemic's diverse nature across Africa, just five countries account for 75 percent of confirmed cases: South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria. Nigeria alone could have had close to one million cases by now if Africa's most populous country hadn't acted quickly, the Africa CDC's Nkengasong said.

The WHO Africa chief has said officials don't think the continent is seeing a "silent huge epidemic," with thousands dying undetected, but she acknowledged under-reporting of cases.

"What we'd like to see — to be able to be really confident — is higher testing rates," Moeti told reporters last week, and she criticized the "very distorted global market" in which richer countries have the bulk of testing materials while poorer ones scrape by on just hundreds of tests a day.

Moeti also worries about a related danger for which even less data exists: the number of deaths from diseases such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis as resources are diverted to COVID-19.

The Chinese mainland registered 37 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with 10 cases from overseas and 27 domestically transmitted, Chinese health authority said Friday.

Of the 27 domestically-transmitted cases, 26 are in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, another in Beijing.

No deaths related to the disease were reported Thursday, while 31 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 3,849 (2,458 recoveries, 46 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 477 (441 recoveries, seven deaths)

German officials, including Health Minister Jens Spahn, have warned it will be harder to control the spread of new COVID-19 infections in the country from autumn onward, so it is imperative to keep the numbers down as summer draws to a close. 

They have voiced alarm over a steady upward creep in the number of new infections over recent weeks. The number of confirmed new coronavirus cases in Germany has breached the 1,000 threshold for the first time since early May, in the latest sign that slackening social distancing is raising the risk of a second wave of the disease.

Germany's new daily caseload eased in May significantly, but has begun to climb again since late July.

According to statistics released by Johns Hopkins University on Thursday, the number of new infections rose by 1,045 to 214,104, breaching a key psychological barrier after creeping up for weeks.

With Europe's largest economy only now starting to recover from the near-total lockdown that was imposed in March, any sign of renewed restrictions on the horizon will dismay investors. The head of the German doctors' union said earlier this week that Germany was already contending with a second wave of the coronavirus and risks squandering its early success by flouting social distancing rules.

Spahn said in a presser that rising numbers of infections is among people returning from west Balkans and Turkey. But he answered there was no need to comprehensively close shops again when asked if the general lockdowns would be imposed again in Germany. 

The country's authorities will require people arriving from a large number of countries deemed high-risk to take coronavirus tests starting on Saturday. "The travelers refuse to get tested for coronavirus after returning from high-risk areas, could be fined up to 25,000 Euros," said Spahn, warning that the accelerating pace of new infections was a cause for concern.

He blamed both the impact of travelers returning from abroad and people's flagging adherence to social distancing guidelines for the increase, although he conceded that increased testing was also responsible for part of the increase.

"I understand if people are fed up, but they should resist the deceptive idea that the pandemic was never all that serious," he said.

The lockdown and social distancing pushed the number of new cases down to as low as 159 in mid-July but numbers have been rising since, fueled by local outbreaks, including one centered on a slaughterhouse that required restrictions to be placed on the entire town of Guetersloh.

As school holidays end, the government is keen to keep tabs on potentially infected vacationers entering the country. Last Saturday, it started offering free tests for people returning to the country.

(With input from agencies)

Hong Kong reports 95 new COVID-19 cases

Hong Kong reported 95 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, of which 91 are locally transmitted, according to the region's Center for Health Protection.

Two new deaths were also recorded, pushing the total death toll to 44.

On Thursday, the Special Administrative Region's Home Affairs Department announced it will extend the scope of its community testing scheme to achieve "early identification, isolation and treatment." 

DPRK's ruling party says to allocate food, funds for Kaesong City in coronavirus fight

Food and funds will be allocated for Kaesong City, which is completely locked down due to COVID-19, the ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said following a key meeting, state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday.

The meeting, presided by DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un, agreed to provide a special supply of food and funds to the city to stabilize the living of its residents, KCNA said.

Kaesong City, near the border with the Republic of Korea (ROK), was put under total lockdown on July 25 after a person there was found with suspected COVID-19 symptoms, though the official media outlet said a few days later that no confirmed case was reported in the country. 

Read more:

DPRK sees 1st suspected COVID-19 case, adopts maximum emergency system

The meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), which was held on Wednesday, also decided to establish a new division and improve the party's functions, according to KCNA.

Brazil's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate Wednesday to a new record low, seeking to help Latin America's biggest economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic. 

The bank lowered the Selic rate by a quarter-point, to two percent, and left the door open to one more "small" cut in an easing cycle that has steadily lowered it from 6.5 percent in June 2019. 

It was the ninth consecutive cut, and came as Brazil reeled from the impact of the coronavirus, which has caused more infections and deaths in the country than any other except the United States: more than 2.8 million and 97,000, respectively. 

The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on Brazil's economy, which contracted 1.5 percent in the first quarter and is set to shrink by 5.7 percent this year, according to analysts polled by the central bank. 

The bank is seeking to give the economy a boost by cutting the interest rate, but indicated it was concerned that too many cuts would fuel excessive inflation and financial instability. 

Recent indicators "suggest a partial recovery" of the Brazilian economy, the bank said in its accompanying statement. 

The bank's monetary policy committee "understands the current economic climate still requires extraordinarily elevated monetary stimulus, but also recognizes... the remaining room to use monetary policy, if it exists, is small," it said. 

Brazil's inflation rate is forecast to come in at 1.63 percent for the year, well below the bank's target range of 2.5 to 5.5 percent. 

The Brazilian economy is meanwhile showing tentative signs of a rebound from the worst of the pandemic. 

Industrial output grew 17.9 percent from May to June – but is still down 13.5 percent since March.

The Chinese mainland registered 37 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, seven from overseas and 30 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Thursday. 

Among the domestic transmissions, 27 were reported in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and three in Liaoning Province.

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Wednesday, while 10 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. 

Altogether, 79,057 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Wednesday, the report said, adding that a total of 84,528 COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland since the start of the epidemic, including 4,634 deaths. 

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows: 

Hong Kong: 3,754 (2,314 recoveries, 43 deaths) 

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries) 

Taiwan: 476 (441 recoveries, 7 deaths)

Twitter said on Wednesday it had restricted President Donald Trump's campaign from tweeting for its false claims about the coronavirus in a post, which came hours later that Facebook removed a video post from the page of Trump over "harmful COVID misinformation."

Both have removed the post containing a video clip of an interview the president gave to Fox News on Wednesday morning. Trump claimed in the video that children are being almost immune to the virus.

"Children handle it very well," he told reporters. "If you look at the numbers, in terms of mortality, fatalities ... for children under a certain age ... their immune systems are very, very strong and very powerful. They seem to be able to handle it very well and that's according to every statistical claim."

Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone and Twitter spokesperson both said the video is a violation of their policies around COVID misinformation. Twitter added that "the account owner will be required to remove the Tweet before they can tweet again."

The Twitter by the Trump campaign had been shared from the president's main account and the video is no longer available on both accounts, suggesting the campaign had complied with the order and removed the video.

In response to the takedown, Courtney Parella, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign criticized Silicon Valley for being biased against Trump, saying "social media companies are not the arbiters of truth."

The spokesperson of Facebook added it was the first time the company removed a Trump post over coronavirus misinformation. However, it's not the first time that the company removed content from the president's page. In June, Facebook deleted ads run by the Trump campaign for containing a Nazi symbol.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

So far, the U.S. has reported nearly five million confirmed coronavirus cases, a quarter of the worldwide total, and over 161,000 deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that while adults make up most of the known COVID-19 cases to date, some children and infants have been sick with the disease and they can also transmit it to others.

A study made by the Science journal has shown that children under age 14 are between one-third and one-half as likely as adults to contract the virus.

An example that can directly proves scientists' claims is the fact that hundreds of children, who ranged in age from six to 19, contracted the coronavirus at just one summer camp in the U.S. state of Georgia last month.

According to local health authorities, the virus infected at least 260 of the 597 attendees as of August 1, and they added that the true number was probably higher since test results were only available for 58 percent of the group.

Trump has been pressing schools to reopen and has threatened to withhold federal funds from school districts if they don't reopen. Education groups criticized that the president is playing politics with education and people's lives.

(With input from agencies) 

Oman to lift internal travel restrictions and reduce curfew

Oman will lift a domestic ban on travel between governorates on Saturday, imposed on July 25 to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, the state news agency ONA said on Wednesday.

From Saturday it will also reduce its curfew for a week between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., instead of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. A full lockdown of the Dhofar governorate in the south will be maintained until further notice.

The world's first COVID-19 inactivated vaccine production plant qualified to put into mass production

A vaccine factory in China has qualified to mass produce a COVID-19 vaccine.

In a press release on Wednesday, China National Biotec Group said that in mid-July its world's first inactivated COVID-19 vaccine production plant in Beijing passed joint biosafety inspections organized by relevant departments, and is qualified to put a vaccine into mass production at any time.

Previously, the production facility had obtained a COVID-19 vaccine production license.

Latest COVID-19 development around the world

Russia registered 5,204 new cases with 139 new deaths in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 866,627 and death toll to 14,490. A total of 246,685 people were still under medical observation, while over 29.4 million nucleic acid tests have been conducted across the country.

Indonesia's total number of confirmed cases rose by 1,815 within one day to 116,871, with the death toll adding by 64 to 5,452, and 1,839 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 73,889.

Kyrgyzstan added 569 confirmed cases on Wednesday, taking its total to 38,110 with 1,438 deaths. Of the newly confirmed cases, 20 are medical workers, bringing the total number of infected medical workers to 2,874. And a total of 1,934 patients have recovered.

The Philippines' total number of confirmed cases surged to 115,980, after 3,462 new cases were reported on Wednesday. The death toll also increased to 2,123 after nine more patients have succumbed to the viral disease.

Australia recorded its worst day of the coronavirus pandemic as the nation's death toll climbed to 247 after Victorian authorities announced 15 deaths on Wednesday. A total of 19,444 confirmed cases have been reported in Australia, with 739 new cases registered in the last 24 hours.

South Korea reported 33 more cases as of 0:00 a.m. Wednesday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 14,456. The daily caseload stayed above 30 for two straight days due to small cluster infections and imported cases.

Hong Kong records 85 new confirmed COVID-19 cases 

Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported 85 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the third straight day with less-than-100 daily new cases.

The newly reported cases, including three imported cases and 82 local infections, brought the city's total number of confirmed cases to 3,754.

Global coronavirus death toll passes 700,000: Johns Hopkins University

The novel coronavirus has claimed over 700,000 lives across the world, Johns Hopkins University's tally showed on Wednesday.

The United States remains the most affected country by the pandemic, reporting 156,801 deaths and over 4.7 million cases. 

Brazil and India are the second the third affected according to the tally, with Brazil registering almost 100,000 fatalities.

Globally, over 18.5 million COVID-19 cases have been detected.

One asymptomatic COVID-19 case reported in east China's Hangzhou

One asymptomatic case of COVID-19 was reported in Hangzhou City, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, according to the city's health authorities. 

The 19-year-old patient arrived in Hangzhou on July 15 after travelling with his mother from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Shanghai on July 13. On August 4, the patient went to the ophthalmology department at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine and tested positive for COVID-19 before having ophthalmic surgery. 

Local health authorities said the patient wore a mask while taking public transportation in the city. They are tracing those who have been in close contact with the individual. 

The Chinese mainland registered 27 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, five from overseas and 22 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday. 

All of the 22 domestic transmissions were reported in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Tuesday, while 17 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. 

Altogether, 79,047 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Tuesday, the report said, adding that a total of 84,491 COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland since the start of the epidemic, including 4,634 deaths. 

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows: 

Hong Kong: 3,669 (2,141 recoveries, 42 deaths) 

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries) 

Taiwan: 476 (441 recoveries, 7 deaths)

Latest COVID-19 development around the world

Kuwait reported 475 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 68,774 and the death toll to 465. The country started the third-phase of restoring normal life on July 28, with labor capacity increased to no more than 50 percent and visits to social care homes allowed.

The Philippines' total number of confirmed cases surged to 112,593 after reporting a record high of 6,352 new cases on Tuesday. The number of recoveries rose to 66,049.

Iran recorded 2,751 new cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 314,786, and the death toll from the virus in the country rose to 17,617 after 212 new deaths were added.

Afghanistan reported 36 newly confirmed cases, taking the country's total to 36,782 with 1,288 deaths. A total of 187 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, of which 15 positive cases were from western Herat province and 21 positive cases from capital Kabul.

Bangladesh's total number of confirmed cases topped 244,000 on Tuesday with about 1,918 new cases reported, and deaths from the virus increased to 3,234. The fatality rate is now 1.33 percent and the current recovery rate is 57.31 percent in the country.

Indonesia reported 1,922 new cases with 86 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 115,056 and death toll to 5,388. Meanwhile, 1,813 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 72,050.

Philippines back under lockdown amid coronavirus cases surge

The Philippines reinstated a lockdown in and around capital Manila on Tuesday, after it reported 6,352 new coronavirus infections, marking the biggest daily jump in cases in Southeast Asia and after posting a record rise in five of the past six days.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases had increased to 112,593, while deaths rose by 11 to 2,115.

President Rodrigo Duterte agreed to reinstate the lockdown after medical groups warned the healthcare system was being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. 

More than 27 million people in Manila and nearby provinces will be put under another lockdown for two weeks, just after restrictions were relaxed in June. With only 24 hours' notice of the shutdown, many found themselves stranded in the capital and unable to get back to their hometowns.

Officials deployed dozens of shuttle buses, along with army trucks, to ferry stranded medical personnel and workers of authorized businesses. Most domestic flights to and from the capital were cancelled, and night curfews will return in places.

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On July 7, U.S. President Donald Trump called for the reopening of schools as COVID-19 cases reached new grave milestones in the country. This was followed by teaching professionals, school administrators, and parents expressing their concerns about the safety of children and staff returning to school, staging nationwide protests.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a hybrid back-to-school plan with most students inside their physical schools just two or three days a week sometime this fall.

De Blasio says his plan calls for most students learning online at least half the time because schools can't accommodate all their students and maintain safe social distancing to avoid spreading the coronavirus.

Teachers at the protest said not enough has been done to make sure schools are safe for students and teachers.

"There's no teacher who wants to be working from home behind a computer all day, while also having to provide for their own families in real time. No one wants that. But we don't want to come back to a place that's putting our lives at risk," teacher Karla Reyes said, who joined the march in New York on Monday.

The march went from teachers union headquarters down to the Department of Education.

Rallies took place in more than 25 U.S. states on Monday. Thousands of parents, educators and students participated virtually and in person.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said school reopening is up to him and he wants to wait and watch before a final decision is made.

Official says Xinjiang COVID-19 cases have same infection source

The genome sequence of the coronavirus found in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region suggests that the recent cases in the region can be attributable to the same infection source as others, Cui Yan, director of Xinjiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a daily press briefing on Tuesday.

As of Monday, Xinjiang had 606 confirmed and 114 asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, while 15,213 people are still under medical observation.

The official said 99.3 percent of the confirmed cases were recorded in the capital city of Urumqi.

From July 15 to Monday, a total of 42 patients have been discharged from hospital after recovery in Xinjiang.

New virus cases deal further blow to embattled cruise ship sector

No sooner had a limited number of passenger liners resumed cruising on the high seas after a hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic that the negative headlines resurfaced. 

Over the past few days, multiple ships have confirmed positive tests among passengers and crew for the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.  

In the midst of lockdowns and travel restrictions globally, cruise lines stopped sailing in March after several coronavirus outbreaks at sea. 

In the most high-profile case, more than 710 people fell ill aboard the Diamond Princess while it was quarantined off Japan and 13 people eventually died. 

The cruise industry's reputation suffered a nosedive, from which some analysts say it will struggle to recover, given the characteristics that make its ships vulnerable to the spread of the disease. 

Thousands of people are required to share relatively small amounts of common space as ships have become ever larger. Many passengers are also elderly, with the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) estimating that a third of cruisers are aged over 60. 

It doesn't help that news reports routinely refer to cruise ships as "floating Petri dishes," a status also gained from the stomach bug norovirus that has sickened hundreds of passengers in recent years. 

Now as the industry, which is said to contribute 150 billion U.S. dollars to the global economy, has taken tentative steps in resuming operations, new coronavirus problems have arisen. 

On Monday, the Norwegian line, Hurtigruten, halted all trips after an outbreak of coronavirus on one of its ship – the MS Roald Amundsen – infected at least five passengers and 36 crew. 

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New virus cases deal further blow to embattled cruise ship sector

Hong Kong records 80 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

Hong Kong has reported 80 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 75 that were locally transmitted, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection said at a press conference on Tuesday.

So far, the region has registered over 3,600 infections and 40 deaths.

Chinese Foreign Ministry briefs WHO experts' work in China

The two experts from World Health Organization had many talks with Chinese experts during their stay in China, and had in-depth exchanges on the progress of scientific research work and the next research plan for COVID-19 in the fields of crowd, environment, molecule, animal tracing and transmission route, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday.

Experts from both sides have worked out the China part of the global COVID-19 scientific cooperation plan, and further studied the animal source, intermediate host and transmission route of coronavirus to better prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic, Wang added.

Chinese medical team to help Azerbaijan fight COVID-19

China sent a medical expert team, formed by the Sichuan Provincial Health Commission, to Azerbaijan to assist in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Chinese foreign ministry. The departure happened on Tuesday.

The medical expert team will assist in the evaluation of the Azerbaijan situation and collaborate with local health authorities to share experiences related to epidemic control and prevention.

Russia reports more than 5,100 new coronavirus cases

Russia reported 5,159 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, pushing its national tally to 861,423, the fourth highest in the world.

The country's coronavirus crisis response center said 144 people had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 14,351.

Tokyo confirms 309 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday

Tokyo reported 309 new cases of coronavirus infection on Tuesday, bringing the city’s cumulative total beyond 14,000, the metropolitan government said.

With Tuesday's figure, a total of 14,022 cases have been confirmed in Tokyo. Tuesday also marks the eighth consecutive day for the city to report over 200 infections.

Australia to deploy military personnel to enforce coronavirus isolation in Victoria state

Australia will deploy 500 more military personnel to Victoria state to enforce stay-at-home orders, according to local media reports on Tuesday morning. 

The state has reported 439 new COVID-19 cases and 11 fatalities in the past 24 hours.

Earlier this week, Victoria has entered a "state of disaster," which will be in place for at least the next six weeks until September 13.

(Cover: People in Melbourne City, Australia, August 4, 2020./CFP) 

Chinese medics departs for Azerbaijan to fight COVID-19

A group of medics from the West China Hospital departed Chengdu City in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Tuesday for Azerbaijan to help the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 10 members of the medical team are from various areas of expertise, covering Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, epidemiology, laboratory medicine and the integrated treatment of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Some of them battled the epidemic in Wuhan.

The medical practitioners will work closely with their Azerbaijani peers in the coming weeks and share with them China's experience in containing the pandemic.

(CGTN reporter Yang Jinghao contributed to the story)

The Chinese mainland registered 36 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, six from overseas and 30 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday. 

Of the domestic transmissions, 28 were reported in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and two in northeastern Liaoning Province. 

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Monday, while 17 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. 

Altogether, 79,030 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Monday, the report said, adding that a total of 84,464 COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland since the start of the epidemic, including 4,634 deaths. 

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows: 

Hong Kong: 3,589 (2,037 recoveries, 38 deaths) 

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries) 

Taiwan: 474 (441 recoveries, 7 deaths)

COVID-19 deaths in Brazil near 95,000

Brazil on Monday recorded 561 new deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 94,665, according to the country's health ministry.

Meanwhile, tests have detected 16,641 new infections, taking the total caseload to 2,750,318, said the ministry.

Brazil has become the hardest hit country in Latin America and the second-worst hit worldwide, second only to the United States in deaths and the total number of COVID-19 infections.

The state of Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous state, is the epicenter of the national outbreak, with 560,000 infections and 23,365 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 168,064 infections and 13,604 deaths.

WHO: Wuhan not necessarily site of coronavirus cross-species transmission

A World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Monday that the alarm was triggered in Wuhan since there was a specific surveillance system in place in the region for picking up atypical pneumonia, which does not necessarily mean Wuhan is where the novel coronavirus transmitted from animals to humans.

Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the Health Emergencies Program of the WHO, made the remarks at a press conference.

What is required is going to be a much more extensive retrospective epidemiological study to look at those first cases in Wuhan and to fully understand the links between those cases, said Ryan, so that we can then determine whether the cross-species transmission of coronavirus happened in Wuhan or elsewhere.

New school year in Hong Kong to begin as scheduled with online classes

The new academic year in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will begin as scheduled over the coming weeks, but students won't be at school as part of the social-distancing measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Kevin Yeung, secretary for education of the HKSAR government, said at a press conference on Monday.

All classes and extracurricular activities will be conducted online or through distance learning, said Yeung.

On Monday, the HKSAR government announced that the region will extend social-distancing measures for another week to curb virus infections, including group gathering of two people and mandatory mask-wearing in all public places.

The advance team in China has concluded their efforts to prepare mission into origins of the new coronavirus, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday. 

"The WHO advance team that travelled to China has now concluded their mission to lay the groundwork for further joint efforts to identify the virus origins," Tedros said at a virtual media briefing. "As a result of these efforts, WHO and Chinese experts have drafted the Terms of Reference for the studies and programme of work for an international team, led by WHO. The international team will include leading scientists and researchers from China and around the world."

Epidemiological studies will begin in Wuhan to identify the potential source of infection of the early cases, according to Tedros. 

The two-member WHO experts team arrived in China in mid-July for research on the source of the new coronavirus.

Read more:

Two WHO experts arrive in China for virus source research

WHO sending a team to China for further COVID-19 investigations

But the experts are yet to return from China, Michael Ryan, executive director of the Health Emergencies Program of the WHO told reporters, adding the terms of reference have been agreed on with Chinese health experts.

So far, over 18 million infections of the new coronavirus have been recorded globally with many countries still experiencing staggering daily increases of confirmed cases.

Tedros said that there might never be a "silver bullet" answer to the new coronavirus but people and countries should not give up.

"The time is always right to do what's right. We shouldn't give up. It's never too late and it can be turned around," Tedros said.

(Cover: People wearing protective masks walk in Malpensa airport near Milan, Italy, March 9, 2020. /Reuters)

India's interior minister and the chiefs of two big states have been hospitalized with COVID-19 as the country's daily cases topped 50,000 for a fifth straight day on Monday.

The country reported 52,972 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 1.8 million, the third highest in the world after the United States and Brazil, according to data from India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.

With 771 new deaths, the COVID-19 disease has now killed 38,135 people in India, including that of a minister on Sunday in the most-populous state of Uttar Pradesh.

On Sunday, India's central interior minister Amit Shah, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's closest aides, as well as the chief minister of the southern state of Karnataka, were hospitalized. The chief of the central state of Madhya Pradesh is also recovering in hospital.

It was not immediately clear whether Shah's cabinet colleagues, including the finance minister, had isolated themselves.

As infections continue to surge in the country, having registered a record of 57,118 on Saturday, India has also stepped up efforts to test more people and search for a vaccine.

The health ministry said on Twitter that the country's drugs authorities had allowed Serum Institute of India, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, to conduct clinical trials of a vaccine candidate developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca Plc.

Hong Kong records 80 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

Hong Kong has reported 80 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, falling below 100 for the first time in 12 days, Chuang Shuk-kwan, an official at Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection, said at a press conference on Monday. 

So far, the region has registered over 3,500 infections and 37 deaths.

Russia reports more than 5,300 new coronavirus cases

Russia reported 5,394 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, pushing its national tally to 856,264, the fourth largest in the world. 

Officials said 79 people had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 14,207.

Latest on COVID-19 development in Australia's Victoria state

Victoria, Australia's second most populous state, has entered a "state of disaster" from 6:00 p.m. local time on Sunday as COVID-19 cases surge. Here is what we know so far:

- At least 429 new infections and 13 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours. 

- Retail stores not deemed "essential" and some manufacturing sectors will be ordered to close around Melbourne City.

- About five million people in Melbourne were told to stay at home.

Travelers entering Singapore will have to wear electronic device

Travelers entering Singapore who choose to serve the self-quarantine order outside of dedicated facilities will have to wear an electronic monitoring device throughout the 14 days, starting next Tuesday, announced by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Ministry of Education (MOE) in a joint press release.

The devices use GPS and 4G or Bluetooth signals to determine if people on stay-home notices are within the range of their place of residence.

This order will apply to all travelers including Singaporeans, permanent residents, long-term pass holders, work pass holders and their dependents, except those under 12 years old.

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Officials have ruled out the possibility of domestic transmission as the origin of the COVID-19 infections in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, said Zhao Zuowei, director of the municipal health commission on Monday.

The genome sequencing of collected samples suggest a difference in genome sequencing from other domestic transmissions, Zhao noted. 

The working presumption is that it was caused by items imported from overseas, said Zhao.

As for now, the efforts in tracing the origin of the virus is still underway, he added. 

A new cluster of infections hit Dalian since a 58-year-old man working with Dalian Kaiyang World Seafood Co. Ltd. tested positive for COVID-19 on July 22.

Dalian has reported a total of 87 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Monday morning, among them, 38 patients are link to the seafood company. 

(Cover: People line up for nucleic acid tests of COVID-19 at a test site in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, July 27, 2020. /Xinhua) 

The Chinese mainland registered 43 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, seven from overseas and 36 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Monday. 

Of the domestic transmissions, 28 were reported in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and eight in northeastern Liaoning Province. 

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Sunday, while 10 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. 

Altogether, 79,013 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Sunday, the report said, adding that a total of 84,428 COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland since the start of the epidemic, including 4,634 deaths. 

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows: 

Hong Kong: 3,511 (1,959 recoveries, 35 deaths) 

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries) 

Taiwan: 474 (441 recoveries, 7 deaths)

A top White House official said on Sunday that the U.S. is "in a new phase" of the coronavirus pandemic as the virus has infected more than 4.6 million people in the country.

"What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It's into the rural as equal urban areas," White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator Deborah Birx told CNN.

"To everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus," she said.

She also stressed about the issue that related to reopening schools, saying "in the areas where we have this widespread case increase, we need to stop the cases and then we can talk about safely reopening."

Birx urged Americans to follow health recommendations, such as wearing a mask and social distancing. 

Still, as the COVID-19 related death toll exceeds 154,000 in the country, President Donald Trump reportedly went on his golf outing over the weekend.

This was Trump's 283rd golfing trip since he become the president of the United States in 2017, according to a count by local media. 

As of Sunday evening, the U.S. has reported more than 4.66 million cases of COVID-19, with 154,833 deaths nationwide, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. is the only country in the world to have reported more than 100,000 COVID-19 related deaths. 

(Cover: CFP) 

Head of Kosovo government tests positive for COVID-19 

Avdullah Hoti, head of government of Kosovo, said on Sunday he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and would self-isolate for the next two weeks.

"Today I did the test for the COVID-19 and tested positive," Hoti wrote on his Facebook account. 

He had started 14 days of self-isolation, during which he would perform duties from home.

Flights between Iraq and Turkey suspended over COVID-19 fears

Flights between Turkey and Iraq have been suspended because of rising coronavirus infections in Turkey, Iraq's Aviation Authority said on Sunday.

Iraq reopened Baghdad and southern airports last week for international travel after months of closure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Philippines to update COVID-19 strategy as cases surpass 100,000

The Philippines' health department vowed on Sunday to update its game plan against COVID-19 within a week and sought to beef up the healthcare workforce in the capital Manila, where front-line medical workers are calling for reviving strict lockdowns.

The Southeast Asian country on Saturday reported 4,963 additional coronavirus infections, the largest single-day jump on record, bringing its total confirmed cases to 98,232, while its death toll climbed to 2,039.

It has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths in the region, behind Indonesia.

Latest COVID-19 developments around the world

Kyrgyzstan reported 420 new cases and 12 deaths on Sunday, raising the total number of infections in the country to 36,719 and the death toll to 1,409. The current recovery rate in the country is 74.2 percent and the fatality rate is 3.8 percent.

Bangladesh reported 886 new cases and 22 fatalities on Sunday, with the total number of infections increasing to 240,746 and the death toll rising to 3,154. The total number of recovered patients in the country stands at 136,839 including 586 new recoveries.

Indonesia's total number of confirmed cases rose by 1,519 within one day to 111,455, with the death toll up 43 to 5,236. A total of 1,056 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 68,975.

Belgium recorded 651 new cases and four more deaths in the previous 24 hours on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 69,402 and the death toll to 9,845.

United Arab Emirates confirmed 239 new cases on Sunday, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 60,999 with 351 deaths and 54,615 recoveries.

Ghana's total number of confirmed cases increased by 787 to 37,014, and the death toll remained at 182 as of Sunday. At least 22 million Ghanaians have experienced reduced incomes since the pandemic first broke out in March, according to the country's statistical service.

India's home minister tests positive for coronavirus 

Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed on Sunday that he has tested positive for coronavirus. 

Shah tweeted that he has been admitted to hospital on the advice of doctors, adding "my health is fine."

He also urged people who have come into close contact with him recently to isolate themselves and undertake a virus test.

India's COVID-19 case tally reached 1,750,723 in total on Sunday, the fourth day in succession on which over 50,000 fresh cases were reported in the country.

So far, 37,364 COVID-19 patients have died in India.

Seven virus-testing experts from the Chinese mainland arrived in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday afternoon, the first batch of mainland support teams to help tackle a worsening spread of COVID-19.

The experts are among 60 professionals selected by the health commission of south China's Guangdong Province from over 20 public hospitals. 

The medical professionals will help with laboratory work in Hong Kong.

The advance team was received by officials and local representatives at a hotel on Sunday afternoon. Qiu Hong, deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, and Sophia Chan, secretary for food and health of the HKSAR, were among the officials who welcomed the experts.

The arrival of the advance team, according to Qiu, indicates the close attention the central government is paying to the HKSAR. The central government strongly backs Hong Kong residents, said Qiu, before expressing hope all residents will unite and overcome the difficult time together.

The HKSAR government expressed its gratitude to the central government for its proactive response to its request for support and the speedy formation of the team, a spokesperson for the HKSAR government said in a statement late Sunday.

The spokesperson also denied rumors that the HKSAR government was transporting the DNA data of Hong Kong residents to the Chinese mainland during virus testing, saying the claims are "absolutely unfounded."

"The central government's support aims at enhancing the virus testing capacity. All virus testing will only be conducted in Hong Kong, samples of which will not be transported to the mainland for testing," read the statement.

The spokesperson condemned the deliberate spreading of false information, warned the acts could constitute criminal offences and stated that the relevant government departments will study the matter carefully and collect evidence.

Some local residents also expressed gratitude for the help from the mainland by waving the Chinese national flag and the flag of the HKSAR, as well as by showing supportive posters on the streets.

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Hong Kong's first COVID-19 temporary hospital starts operation

The National Health Commission (NHC) announced on Saturday it had established several support teams to carry out nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 at the request of the HKSAR government.

The group of mainland professionals is the first dispatched by the central government to help HKSAR's fight against COVID-19.

The NHC has also promised to assemble mainland medical resources and provide more support at the request of the HKSAR.

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NHC experts to go to Hong Kong to help with COVID-19 testing

The Asian financial hub has seen cases spike since early July, and its total confirmed cases have mounted to over 3,500 since the pandemic began. 

In an attempt to rein in the epidemic, a COVID-19 temporary hospital started operation on August 1 in Hong Kong.

The temporary hospital, located in the venue housing the Asia World-Expo, mainly treats coronavirus patients aged 18-60. 

The 500-bed facility provides 24-hour medical services, lung X-rays and blood tests.

COVID-19 Global Roundup: A tidal wave of coronavirus business failures

Retailers, restaurants, airlines, tech companies, oil producers, fitness centers, travel agencies ... the list goes on and on. Businesses across the globe have declared bankruptcy this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has triggered economic turmoil and hardship. 

For many businesses around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic could be the toughest challenge they've ever met: Cash flow dried up, financial problems deepened, customers stopped buying, stores shut down and lockdown orders returned over and over again. 

Some are experiencing domestic political and social turbulence, others were struggling even before the pandemic began. The current situation has made it worse, as companies try to survive in an environment where a vaccine has yet to be found and economies are still reeling.

Philippines' confirmed coronavirus cases exceed 100,000

The Philippines on Sunday reported 5,032 new coronavirus infections, its largest single-day increase, taking the country's total confirmed cases to 103,185.

The Department of Health also said its death toll had jumped by 20 to 2,059.

President Rodrigo Duterte was scheduled to meet key cabinet members on Sunday to discuss a call by medical frontliners' groups to put the capital Manila, which accounts for the bulk of infections, back under a stricter lockdown, his spokesman said.

Hong Kong reports 115 new COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) reported 115 new cases of COVID-19, all locally transmitted, in the last 24 hours, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection said on Sunday.

A total of 3,511 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths have been reported in the HKSAR.

Russia reports 5,427 new COVID-19 cases, total surpasses 850,000

Russia on Sunday reported 5,427 new COVID-19 cases with 70 more deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 850,870 and the total death toll to 14,128.

Latest developments on the global pandemic

India's COVID-19 cases tally surpassed 1.7 million on Sunday, reaching 1,750,723. The federal health ministry said 853 new deaths and 54,735 new positive cases were detected in the country. The official death toll has increased to 37,364.

Brazil on Saturday reported 45,392 new cases and 1,088 new deaths due to COVID-19. It now has registered 2,707,877 total cases and 93,563 fatalities.

New Zealand reported three new cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation on Sunday. It has recorded 1,215 total cases so far. The health ministry said it has been 93 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source.

Mexico registered more than 9,000 new cases for the first time on Saturday, reporting 9,556 new infections. The country's total tally has now risen to 434,193 cases and 47,472 deaths.

Colombia recorded 10,673 new infections on Saturday, setting a new daily record. It now has 306,181 confirmed cases. The death toll increased by 225 to reach 10,330.

U.S. COVID-19 death toll projected to top 230,000 by November

The death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. is expected to climb to 230,822 by November, said the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

On July 22, the institute forecasted a total of 219,864 deaths from COVID-19 by November in the United States, reported CNN on Thursday.

The updated projection is based on the current scenario in the United States where the number of cases continue to rise, with some still refusing to wear masks or social distancing, or other measures, said the IHME in its projection model.

Click here for more.

Australia's Victoria state declares 'state of disaster'

Australia's state of Victoria has declared a "state of disaster" on Sunday in addition to the state of emergency already in place, the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said in a press briefing.

A nighttime curfew will be implemented in Melbourne from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. from Sunday night. Residents in the city will only be allowed to shop and exercise within five km of their home, according to the premier.

Andrews said there are now 11,557 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Victoria, including 6,322 active cases. Some 385 patients are in hospitals, and 38 of them are receiving intensive care. A total of 671 new infections and seven deaths were reported since Saturday.

South Africa's COVID-19 cases surpass 500,000

South Africa's confirmed total cases of COVID-19 have crossed half a million, its health ministry said on Saturday, while continentwide case tally in Africa approached one million.

Africa's most industrialized nation recorded 10,107 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, pushing the total to 503,290, the ministry said.

Just over three million people have so far been tested for the virus in South Africa, which confirmed its first case five months ago, and 8,153 deaths have been recorded. Africa has recorded 934,558 cases, 19,752 deaths and 585,567 recoveries, according to a Reuters tally.

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The Chinese mainland registered 49 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, 16 from overseas and 33 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Sunday. 

Of the domestic transmissions, 30 were reported in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and three in northeastern Liaoning Province. 

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Saturday, while 14 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. 

Altogether, 79,003 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Saturday, the report said, adding that a total of 84,385 COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland since the start of the epidemic, including 4,634 deaths. 

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows: 

Hong Kong: 3,396 (1,858 recoveries, 31 deaths) 

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries) 

Taiwan: 474 (441 recoveries, 7 deaths)

Beijing reports no new COVID-19 cases for three straight days

Beijing recorded zero new COVID-19 cases on Saturday for the third day in a row, the municipal health commission said on Sunday.

Two more patients have recovered from COVID-19 in the city, as the number of active cases from the Xinfadi market cluster dropped to three.

From June 11 to August 1, Beijing reported 335 COVID-19 cases linked to the Xinfadi market, 332 of those patients have already been discharged from hospitals.

One asymptomatic patient is still under medical observation, according to the health commission.

Russia will start mass anti-coronavirus vaccination by October this year and will prioritize medical workers and teachers in the country, according to local new agencies on Saturday, citing the health minister Mikhail Murashko.

The COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya Institute, has completed clinical trials, Murashko said, adding that the documents for vaccine registration is under preparation. 

On Saturday, a total of 5,462 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Russia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 845,443, official data showed. 

The death toll in the country now stands at 14,058. So far, 646,524 patients have recovered from the disease in the country.

(Cover: CFP) 

Emmy Awards going virtual, HBO and Netflix top the nominations

The Emmy Awards ceremony will be held online this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A day after announcing nominations for this year's edition, the Television Academy on Wednesday informed top nominees that the ceremony in September will be held virtually.

The Emmys – television's equivalent of the Oscars – will air on ABC on September 20 and will be the first major awards show in Hollywood since the coronavirus crisis began.

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Hong Kong reports 125 new coronavirus cases

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has reported 125 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, including 124 locally transmitted cases and one case from overseas, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) said on Saturday.

On the same day, Hong Kong's first temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients started operating. On its first operational weekend, the hospital is expected to receive 30 patients each day.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's (HKSAR) first temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients started operation on Saturday. It received the first group of more than 20 patients, according to CGTN reporter Zhu Dan.

The temporary hospital, located in the venue housing the Asia World-Expo, will mainly treat coronavirus patients aged 18-60. The 500-bed facility provides 24-hour medical services, lung X-rays and blood tests.

On its first operational weekend, the hospital is expected to receive 30 patients each day.

Around a dozen nurses and two doctors were on duty on Saturday to take care of the patients.

A medical expert said the temporary hospital is designed to receive patients with mild symptoms and confirmed patients awaiting to be hospitalized.

The hospital is equipped with ultraviolet disinfection facility and changing rooms besides self-service stations for patients to sanitize themselves and check their health status by measuring blood pressure, blood oxygen level and other parameters.

The HKSAR reported 125 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours, including 124 cases of local transmission and one from overseas, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) said on Saturday.

(Cover: Asia World-Expo in the HKSAR, China, August 1, 2020. /CMG) 

The National Health Commission said on Saturday that it has set up a nucleic acid testing support team to work in Hong Kong at the request of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government to help fight the pandemic.

The first seven members of the team will arrive in the HKSAR on Sunday, said the NHC.

UK tightens restrictions as no fans allowed at sports pilot events

Spectators will not be allowed to attend pilot sports events for at least two weeks due to a spike in COVID-19 infection rates, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday putting a halt on plans to return to some kind of sporting normality.

"Pilots of larger crowds at sports venues will not take place," Johnson said at a news conference. "I said from May we would not hesitate to put on the brakes at the slightest sign that the numbers were going in the wrong direction."

The new restrictions on fans will be enforced at least until August 15.

The government had decided earlier to allow spectators at carefully selected trial events from late July to early August to 'stress test' new guidelines on a return to regular live sport.

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The global coronavirus outbreak is the sort of disaster whose effects will last far into the future, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday. 

"The pandemic is a once-in-a-century health crisis, the effects of which will be felt for decades to come," Tedros told a meeting of the WHO's emergency committee.

"Although vaccine development is happening at record speed, we must learn to live with this virus, and we must fight it with the tools we have," he said.

The pandemic has killed more than 670,000 people worldwide, with more than 17 million cases diagnosed. The United States, Brazil, Mexico and Britain have been particularly hard hit in recent weeks by the disease COVID-19, as their governments have struggled to come up with an effective response. 

Although knowledge about the new virus has advanced, many questions remained unanswered and populations remain vulnerable, Tedros noted. 

"Early results from serology (antibody) studies are painting a consistent picture: most of the world's people remain susceptible to this virus, even in areas that have experienced severe outbreaks," he said. 

"Many countries that believed they were past the worst are now grappling with new outbreaks. Some that were less affected in the earliest weeks are now seeing escalating numbers of cases and deaths. And some that had large outbreaks have brought them under control." 

Economies have been hit by lockdown restrictions introduced to restrict its spread, while many regions are fearful of a second wave. 

Latest COVID-19 developments around the world

Brazil, on Friday, reported a daily increase of 52,383 new cases in the past 24 hours and 1,212 COVID-19 deaths, raising the total caseload to 2,662,485 and death toll to 92,475. The country is one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, second only to the United States, both in terms of caseload and death toll.

Mexico registered 8,458 new cases, a record for a single day, as well as 688 additional deaths, bringing the total to 424,637 cases and 46,688 fatalities, placing the country's death toll from the pandemic as third highest in the world, overtaking the UK.

Egypt recorded 321 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total cases registered in the country to 94,078. Thirty-one patients died from the disease in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 4,805.

Greece confirmed 78 new cases and three new deaths in the past 24 hours, the biggest daily rise since the end of the lockdown on May 4, as the total number rose to 4,477 with 206 fatalities. The authorities introduced stricter measures to slow down the spread of the virus, including extending the ban on local festivals to August 31.

Iran's total number of confirmed cases climbed to 304,204 after the addition of 2,674 new cases overnight, and the death toll also rose to 16,569 after 226 new deaths were recorded. So far, 261,200 patients have been recovered, and 4,041 others remain in critical condition.

Argentina's total number of confirmed cases rose to 185,373 cases with 3,466 deaths as of Friday, leading to the government announcing the extension of the quarantine to August 16, which has been in force since March 20, in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

Beijing reports no new COVID-19 cases for two straight days

Beijing recorded zero new COVID-19 cases on Friday for two days in a row, the municipal health commission said on Saturday.

Four more patients have recovered from COVID-19 in the city, as the number of active cases from the Xinfadi market cluster dropped to five.

From June 11 to July 31, Beijing reported 335 COVID-19 cases linked to the Xinfadi market, 330 of those patients have already been discharged from hospitals.

Three asymptomatic patients are still under medical observation, according to the health commission.

The Chinese mainland registered 45 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, six from overseas and 39 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.

Of the domestic transmissions, 31 were reported in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and eight in northeastern Liaoning Province.

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Friday, while 15 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.

Altogether, 78,989 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Friday, the report said, adding that a total of 84,337 COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland since the start of the epidemic, including 4,634 deaths.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 3,272 (1,751 recoveries, 27 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 467 (441 recoveries, 7 deaths)

Amid the corona​virus pandemic, ​cities around the world went into lockdown -- and demand for public transportation dried up. It was the same in Brazil's big cities, and like many places, most of the commuter trains there kept running. 

Railways and subways have high fixed costs that can’t be slashed– even when the number of passengers using them tumbles as it has during the pandemic. In Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, ridership plunged by 74% from the same time last year. But infrastructure must be maintained, regardless of passenger volume.

According to the rail industry association, ANPTrilhos, less than one third of Brazil's commuter trains were taken out of circulation during the pandemic, despite the three quarter-​drop in passengers. It’s one reason for losses estimated at 750 million US dollars, which could hinder the sector's capacity for future investment or even day-to-day operation​s.

CGTN's Paulo Cabral reports, that led to a major loss of revenue, that could take years to recover.

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States rose to 1.43 million last week amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, following an increase in the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

In the week ending July 25, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased by 12,000 from a revised 1,422,000 in the prior week, the department said.

Initial jobless claims peaked at a record 6.87 million in the week ending March 28 amid COVID-19 shutdowns, and the figures have declined for 15 weeks consecutively, before the trend was reversed in the week ending July 18.

With the latest numbers, a staggering 54.1 million initial jobless claims have been filed over the past 19 weeks, indicating the mounting economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new report also showed that the four-week moving average, a method to iron out data volatility, increased by 6,500 to 1.37 million.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 11.6 percent for the week ending July 18, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate, the report showed.

The latest data "confirms that the economy's recovery has lost momentum in recent weeks," Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, wrote in an analysis.

As Republican and Democratic lawmakers continue to debate the extension of the extra 600 dollars unemployment benefits, which are set to expire Friday, House said the "stakes are high" with more than 30 million workers collecting unemployment insurance.

The Senate Republicans' 1-trillion-dollar proposal, revealed Monday, would slash the federal unemployment benefits from 600 dollars to 200 dollars through September, giving an unemployed worker about 70 percent of previous wages when combined with state benefits, while Democrats want to maintain the current level of benefits through January.

The White House and Republicans have contended that the 600-dollar benefits have created a financial disincentive for people to return to work, an argument refuted by some economists, including Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman.

"The bottom line is that all those concerns that we were keeping unemployment high by making it too comfortable had zero basis in reality," Krugman said on Twitter. "UI (unemployment insurance) was helping employment, not hurting it."

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 908,931 on Friday, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union (AU) Commission in its latest situation update issued on Friday, said that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the continent rose from 891,199 on Thursday to 908,931 as of Friday registering 17, 732 new positive cases during the stated period.

The Africa CDC report also said that the number of deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic rose to 19,310 as of Friday, up from 18,884 on Thursday.

The continental disease control and prevention agency also stressed that some 556, 695 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far.

South Africa, which has so far reported 482, 169 confirmed COVID-19 positive cases, is Africa's highest affected country in terms of positive cases, followed by Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and Morocco, it was noted.

The Southern Africa region is the most affected area in terms of confirmed cases, followed by Northern Africa and Western Africa regions, respectively, the Africa CDC said.

Amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the African continent, the Africa CDC on Tuesday said 34 African countries are under "full border closure "in an effort to halt the spread of the infectious virus.

U.S. top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said on Friday that he is "cautiously optimistic" that the U.S. could have coronavirus vaccine in late fall or early winter this year.

Fauci said, "We hope that by the time we get into late fall and early winter, we will have in fact a vaccine that we can say that would be safe and effective. One can never guarantee the safety or effectiveness unless you do the trial, but we are cautiously optimistic this will be successful."

He made the remarks while testifying at the coronavirus crisis hearing in Capitol Hill.

During the hearing, Fauci was been asked about why the Europe did better job than the U.S. in the aspect of containing COVID-19.

Fauci answered that the European countries fully locked down to curb the spread of the virus. However, the shutdown of the U.S. only worked for about 50 percent of the country.

As of Friday morning, the U.S. reported more than 4.49 million COVID-19 cases, with 152,082 deaths, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.

(Cover: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrives to testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 31, 2020. /Reuters) 

China's central government will send medical workers to Hong Kong to help with the nucleic acid tests in the region.

The State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office announced on Friday that the medical workers will also help Hong Kong build temporary quarantine and treatment facilities.

Hong Kong has seen a rapid surge in coronavirus cases this month. The Center for Health Protection reported 121 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, marking the tenth day that number of daily COVID-19 cases remained above 100.

Earlier the day, Lee Lap-yip, a Hospital Authority's expert said that the AsiaWorld-Expo – an exhibition center turned into a community treatment facility with 500 beds will start to receive COVID-19 patients from August 1.

UK puts lockdown-easing on hold as virus spread accelerates

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson put some planned measures to ease the UK's lockdown on hold Friday, just hours before they were due to take effect, saying the number of new coronavirus cases in the country is on the rise first time since May.

Johnson said at a news conference that statistics show that the prevalence of COVID-19 in the community is likely increasing, with an estimated 4,900 new infections every day, up from 2,000 a day at the end of June. 

"We just can't afford to ignore this evidence," he said. 

"With those numbers creeping up, our assessment is that we should now squeeze (the) brake pedal in order to keep the virus under control." 

He called off plans to allow venues, including casinos, bowling alleys and skating rinks, to open from Saturday, Aug 1. Wedding receptions were also put on hold, along with plans to allow limited numbers of fans back into sports stadiums and audiences into theaters.

(With input from AP) 

Latest development of COVID-19 in the world 

Vietnam and Fiji on Friday reported their country's first death from COVID-19. The confirmed cases in Vietnam stand at 509, while Fiji reported 18 COVID-19 patients since it confirmed its first case on March 19. 

Russia reported 5,482 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 839,981.

Iran on Friday recorded 2,674 new cases of COVID-19, the cumulative cases in the country stand at 304,204.

(Cover: People's Daily) 

Italy's GDP plunges 12.4 percent in second quarter

Italy's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 12.4 percent in the second quarter, the national statistics bureau Istat said on Friday, plunging the country into recession.

GDP declined by 17.3 percent compared with the 2019 second quarter, Istat said, as the coronavirus lockdown took a dramatic toll on the eurozone's third-largest economy.

(With input from AFP) 

Hong Kong reports 121 new coronavirus cases 

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has reported 121 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, including 118 locally transmitted and three from overseas, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) said on Friday. 

CHP said two more deaths related to COVID-19 have been registered in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 27.

Study suggests 76% of Brazilian coronavirus strains had origins in Europe

A new study shedding light on the epidemic transmission and evolutionary trajectories of the coronavirus in Brazil has shown that current interventions remain insufficient to contain the virus.

The research, published in Science a week ago, came amid the country registering the world's second highest number of confirmed cases with more than 2.6 million people getting infected.

Scientists found 75 percent of the strains in Brazil had their origins in three groups that were introduced from Europe in late February and early March, indicating transmission was already established in Brazil by early March.

Most of these estimated introductions were directed to internationally well-connected states such as Sao Paulo (36% of all imports), Minas Gerais (24%), and Ceara (10%), said the study.

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NE China's Dalian reports 11 new COVID-19 cases, total at 68

The city of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province reported 11 new COVID-19 cases and six asymptomatic cases on Thursday, bringing its total number of confirmed cases since July 22 to 68, local health authorities said during a press conference on Friday.

Of the confirmed cases, 34 were employees of Dalian Kaiyang World Seafood Co. Ltd. , the site of a new cluster of infections after a 58-year-old employee tested positive for COVID-19 on July 22. Another 11 had been found of close contacts with the company's employees.

At present, 32 asymptomatic patients in the city are under medical observation, and Dalian will undertake a second round of testing on residents in high-risk areas.

Young people letting down their guard to enjoy the summer holidays are partly driving a spike in new COVID-19 cases in some countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

A fresh jump in cases in parts of Europe, the United States and Asia has fueled fears of a second wave of new coronavirus infections and prompted some countries to impose new restrictions on travel.

"We've said this before and we'll say it again: young people are not invincible," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing in Geneva.

Evidence suggests that recent spikes of cases in some countries are being "driven in part by younger people letting down their guard during the northern hemisphere summer," he said.

The northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia on Monday warned young people to stop partying to help halt a surge in new cases or local authorities may have to reimpose harsh restrictions.

Britain and several other European countries have placed restrictions on travel to Spain.

Maria Van Kerkhove, a top WHO epidemiologist, told the same briefing that nightclubs were "amplifiers of transmission".

"The majority of young people infected tend to have more mild disease. But that's not always consistent," she said.

The WHO this month urged travelers to wear masks on planes and keep themselves informed as COVID-19 cases surge again in some countries.

The WHO guidance for travelers has included common-sense advice applicable to other settings such as social distancing, washing hands and avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

Beijing recorded zero new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the municipal health commission said on Friday.

Ten more patients have recovered from COVID-19 in the city, as the number of active cases from the Xinfadi market cluster dropped to nine.

From June 11 to July 30, Beijing reported 335 COVID-19 cases linked to the Xinfadi market, 326 of those patients were already discharged from hospitals.

Three asymptomatic patients are still under medical observation, according to the health commission.

Latest COVID-19 developments around the world

Israel confirmed 1,737 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide tally of infections to 70,036, which includes 500 deaths and 43,489 recoveries. The Israeli Employment Service reported the country's unemployment rate currently stands at 21.5 percent, down from 27.5 percent at the end of April, with more than 874,000 people unemployed.

Argentina reported 6,377 new cases with 153 deaths, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 185,373 and death toll to 3,441. The capital Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province will not continue to relax existing quarantine measures due to the severity of the epidemic.

Canada's total number of confirmed cases climbed to 115,789 as 319 new cases were reported on Thursday, and its death toll stands at 8,929. All passengers going through security checks at Canada's four main airports have to have temperature checked starting Thursday.

France confirmed 1,377 new cases and 16 more deaths on Thursday, with the overall total being 186,573 with 30,254 deaths. Health authorities said 381 people were in intensive care units due to the disease, one more than the previous day, marking the first time that figure has increased on a daily basis in 16 weeks.

The UK reported 846 new cases on Thursday, the highest daily number in over a month, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 302,301 and the death toll to 45,999. People from different households will not be allowed to meet each other indoors in parts of Northern England amid an increasing rate of transmission.

Mexico recorded 7,730 new novel coronavirus infections and 639 additional deaths, bringing the total to 416,179 cases and 46,000 fatalities. The country's gross domestic product plunged a record 18.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the same period last year.

The Chinese mainland registered 127 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, four from overseas and 123 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Friday.

Of the domestic transmissions, 112 were reported in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and 11 in northeastern Liaoning Province.

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Thursday, while 17 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.

Altogether, 78,974 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Thursday, the report said, adding that a total of 84,292 COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland since the start of the epidemic, including 4,634 deaths.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 3,151 (1,660 recoveries, 25 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 467 (440 recoveries, 7 deaths)

July 30 marks six months since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of global concern due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The virus has killed more than 669,000 people worldwide with more than 17 million cases confirmed.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO said Thursday during a briefing in Geneva, "We must all learn to live with the virus," he added, "and to take the steps necessary to live our lives while protecting ourselves and others – especially those at highest risk of Covid-19."

The U.S. remains the world leader in the pandemic,  accounting for roughly a quarter of both deaths and cases.Johns Hopkins University has reported Thursday afternoon,  more than 4.4 million confirmed cases in the United States, and more than 151,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S..

Florida reported 253 coronavirus deaths on Thursday,  a new daily record for the third day in a row.

Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate and co-chair of Black Voices for Trump has died from COVID-19.Cain was hospitalized this month after attending a campaign rally in June for President Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Cain was one of many Trump surrogates, where up to eight advance team staff members tested positive for the virus at the rally.

As students return this fall, reopening schools across the country may become another victim of the pandemic.

Washington, D.C. Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn announced on Thursday that public schools will all be virtual until November. Reversing an earlier decision to hold both virtual and in-person classes.

"We all understand that this school year will require flexibility from everyone, and with that in mind we are moving forward with an all virtual start to the school year for students in pre-K through the 12th grade for term one until November 6," Kihn said. 

The U.S. economic recovery continues threatened by the COVID-19.  On Thursday, the U.S. government said that the economy shrank at a record-breaking 33 percent rate from April to June as COVID-19 shuttered businesses and triggered layoffs.

And jobless claims rose for the second straight week, more than 1.4 million laid-off workers filed for unemployment benefits last week as COVID-19 surges across the nation.

Brazil has become the second country in the world with more than 2.5 million confirmed cases.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's wife and one of his ministers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official statement on Thursday.

Just days after her husband said he had overcome the virus with a negative test following weeks in quarantine, Bolsonaro's wife Michelle has tested positive, the presidential office said in a statement.

The world's third-largest COVID-19 cases load in India, with over 1.5 million people infected.

The country's health ministry Rajesh Bhushan reported another record surge on Thursday. The country has added nearly 100,000 new cases almost every two days.

Total coronavirus infections in Iran hit 301,530 on Thursday after registration of 2,621 new cases overnight, according to the state TV.

Meanwhile, 226 new death cases were registered over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll in the country to 16,569, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily update.

So far, 261,200 patients have recovered and 4,041 remain in critical condition, said Lari.

According to the health spokeswoman, 2, 431,804 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran by Thursday.

She said 27 Iranian provinces are in high-risk or alert condition over the disease.

Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19.

Iran and China have offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's wife and one of his ministers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official statement on Thursday, as the spread of the novel coronavirus showed no signs of slowing in the country with the world's second-worst outbreak after the United States.

Just days after her husband said he had overcome the virus with a negative test following weeks in quarantine, Bolsonaro's wife Michelle has tested positive, the presidential office said in a statement.

"First lady Michelle Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. She is in good health and will follow all established protocols," it said, referring to the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Earlier on Thursday, Brazil's science and technology minister, Marcos Pontes, said his test had come back positive, becoming the fifth minister in Bolsonaro's government to be diagnosed with the disease.

Their infections are a palpable sign of the scale of the outbreak in Brazil, which set fresh daily records on Wednesday for new COVID-19 cases and related fatalities.

The 69,074 new confirmed cases and 1,595 additional deaths reported by the Health Ministry, pushed the country past 2.5 million infections and 90,000 killed.

(With input from agencies)

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 891,199 on Thursday, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union (AU) Commission in its latest situation update issued on Thursday, said that the number of deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic rose to 18, 884 as of Thursday, up from 18,507 on Wednesday.

The continental disease control and prevention agency also stressed that some 540,872 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far.

South Africa, which has so far reported 471,123 confirmed COVID-19 positive cases, is Africa's most affected country in terms of positive cases, followed by Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and Morocco, it was noted.

Amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the African continent, the Africa CDC on Tuesday said 34 African countries are under "full border closure" in an effort to halt the spread of the infectious virus.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, announced a mandatory mask policy on Wednesday that requires all members and staff to wear face coverings in the chamber.

"Members and staff will be required to wear masks in the halls of the House," Pelosi said during remarks on the House floor, adding that lawmakers can temporarily take off their masks when speaking.

The California Democrat also said she has the authority to direct the House sergeant-at-arms to tell members to leave if they fail to adhere to the requirement.

The announcement came hours after Congressman Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, tested positive for the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

Gohmert, who has frequently refused to wear a mask, was scheduled to fly to Midland, Texas with U.S. President Donald Trump Wednesday morning but tested positive in a pre-screen at the White House.

However, the eight-term congressman blamed the result on wearing a mask.

"I can't help but think that if I hadn't been wearing a mask so much in the last 10 days or so, I really wonder if I would have gotten it," he said during an interview with a local TV station.

At least two House members have announced plans to self-quarantine due to contact with Gohmert.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who was seen walking alongside with Gohmert after a hearing at the House Judiciary Committee, tested negative for the virus on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson.

At least the 10th U.S. lawmaker known to have tested positive, Gohmert is among a group of conservative Republicans who have been walking around the Capitol without wearing a mask.

"Very frankly, too many Republicans have continued to act extraordinarily irresponsibly," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters on a press call on Wednesday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said "cloth face coverings are a critical tool in the fight against COVID-19 that could reduce the spread of the disease, particularly when used universally within communities."

Hong Kong reports 149 new coronavirus cases in record daily high

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has reported 149 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, including 145 locally transmitted cases and four cases from overseas, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection said on Thursday. 

The number of new cases is a record daily high since the outbreak of the epidemic.

Latest COVID-19 developments around the globe

Australia recorded its deadliest day in the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday with at least 13 deaths and more than 700 new infections mainly in Victoria State.

India Thursday morning reported 775 new COVID-19 deaths and 52,123 positive cases in the past 24 hours, taking the number of deaths to 34,968 and the total cases to 1,583,792. This is the highest single day spike of new COVID-19 cases in the country so far.

In Vietnam, capital city of Hanoi will conduct mass testing from Thursday to Saturday for 21,000 people who recently returned from the central city of Da Nang, which has seen a resurgence of cases since July 25 after going through nearly 100 days without any local cases.

Ukraine reported a record daily high of 1,197 new coronavirus cases on Thursday. So far, the total number of cases in the country has risen to 68,794, including 1,673 deaths and 38,154 recovered.

Brazil on Wednesday reopened international air travel to foreign visitors, but said the entry restrictions on foreign travelers arriving by land or sea is extended for another 30 days. Tourists from all countries may fly to Brazil as long as they have health insurance for the duration of their trip.

(With input from agencies)

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, that causes COVID-19, evolved from most closely related bat viruses 40 to 70 years ago, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Microbiology on Tuesday.

The study, led by researchers from the Pennsylvania State University, University of Edinburgh, and University of Hong Kong, analyzed the evolutionary history of SARS-CoV-2 using available genomic data on sarbecoviruses, the viral subgenus that SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 belongs to.

They found that the sequence of a bat virus, known as RaTG13, was highly similar to that of the novel coronavirus, with "approximately 96 percent genome sequence identity." The two share a common single ancestral lineage, but subsequently took a different evolutionary pathway decades ago.

The genetic proximity tells that "a bat origin for the current COVID-19 outbreak is probable," said the authors, who discovered that the divergence dates between SARS-CoV-2 and the bat sarbecovirus reservoir were estimated as 1948, 1969 and 1982.

The findings indicate that "the lineage giving rise to SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating unnoticed in bats for decades."

The study is significant in "pointing to the scale and nature of the problems that zoonotic transmission presents to humans," reported BBC citing Mark Pagel, professor of the University of Reading, who was not involved in the study. "There may be numerous and as yet undetected viruses capable of infecting humans that reside in animal hosts."

"We really do need to understand where or how the virus has crossed into the human population. If we now believe there's this generalist virus circulating in bats we need to get better at monitoring that," said David Robertson, professor of the University of Glasgow, who participated in the study, as no evidence shows in the study that an intermediary host is required for bat viruses to get into humans.

The study also "adds to mounting evidence discrediting conspiracy theories that suggest SARS-CoV-2 was bio-engineered or escaped from a laboratory," The Telegraph reported citing the authors.

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam urges Hong Kong residents to combat COVID-19 together in a promotional video broadcast from Wednesday. Lam shot the video on Monday to call for a joint fight against the virus in Hong Kong as the epidemic situation worsens.

Global COVID-19 cases surpass 17 million: Johns Hopkins University

Global COVID-19 cases topped 17 million on Thursday, statistics of the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University showed. 

DPRK says it has no confirmed COVID-19 case

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) says it has no confirmed COVID-19 case, the country's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun said on Thursday.

"There has not been even a single case of new coronavirus infection so far in our country," Rodong Sinmun said in an article.

The statement came four days after DPRK said it had found the first suspected case in Kaesong City, a person who illegally returned to the country from the Republic of Korea (ROK), which led to the city's lockdown.

Read more: DPRK sees 1st suspected COVID-19 case, adopts maximum emergency system

It's not immediately clear if the newspaper report means the suspected patient has recovered.

A ROK health official has denied the person contracted the virus during the stay in the country.

And as of Thursday, DPRK has not reported any confirmed infections to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The road to 150,000+: How the U.S. has handled the COVID-19 pandemic

150,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. 

Since the first confirmed death in late February, the country has been grappling with intense challenges in its efforts to contain pandemic.

Here's a timeline showing how the U.S has responded.

Click here for more.

The Chinese mainland registered 105 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, three from overseas, and 102 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.

Of the domestic transmissions, 96 were reported in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, five in Liaoning Province, and one in the Chinese capital of Beijing.

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Wednesday, while 13 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.

Altogether, 78,957 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Wednesday, the report said, adding that a total of 84,165 COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland, including 4,634 deaths.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 3,002 (1,591 recoveries, 24 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 467 (440 recoveries, 7 deaths) 

(Cover: Collecting a swab sample from a resident in the Tianshan District in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 20, 2020. /Xinhua)

Beijing reports one new COVID-19 case

On Wednesday, Beijing recorded one new COVID-19 case related to a confirmed case from northeast China's Dalian City, the municipal health commission said on Thursday.

Five more patients have recovered from COVID-19 in the city, as the number of active cases from the Xinfadi wholesale market cluster dropped to 19.

From June 11 to July 29, Beijing reported 335 confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the Xinfadi market, 316 of those patients were already discharged from hospitals.

Four asymptomatic cases are still under medical observation, according to the health commission. 

Brazil confirms nearly 70,000 coronavirus cases in new daily record

Brazil set a daily record on Wednesday for both confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and related deaths, with 69,074 new cases and 1,595 fatalities, Health Ministry data showed.

Brazil has now registered more than 2.5 million confirmed cases of the virus and 90,134 deaths since the pandemic began, according to ministry data.

Two large clinical trials of coronavirus vaccines are now underway in the U.S. 

This week, pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer both began advanced clinical trials, involving 30,000 volunteers each. 

The trials will help determine if these vaccines are safe and effective. 

CGTN's Hendrik Sybrandy looks at the Moderna effort which is being done in partnership with the U.S. government.

The number of COVID-19-related deaths in the United States surpassed the 150,000 mark on Wednesday as the country continues to see an upsurge surge in daily infections.

The U.S. remains the world’s worst affected country, having now reported more than 4.3 million cases, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.

The figures represent 26.1 percent of the global infections and 22.6 percent of the deaths.

Out of the 20 countries that have reported the most infections, the U.S. ranks sixth in deaths per capita, standing at 4.5 fatalities per 10,000 people.

Only the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Peru and Chile have a higher per capita rate, the tally shows, with U.S. deaths making up nearly 23% of the global total of 660,997.

Dalian City residents sat in queues on a playground while they waited to get tested for the novel coronavirus recently.

Medical staff used isolation belts to set up four lines on the playground, and chairs were placed one meter apart so that people could still observe physical distancing protocols while they waited.

It has been reported that Dalian has seen 70 cases so far. Local authorities have ordered large-scale testing for the city's residents. Over a million people have been tested.

HK catering sector struggling as restaurant ban looms amid pandemic

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's (HKSAR) catering sector is struggling as the sweeping ban on dine-in services into effect on Wednesday amid the epidemic.

On Monday, the densely populated city unprecedentedly announced to completely ban dining in restaurants from Wednesday, as authorities reported 145 cases the same day, a new daily record, of which 142 were locally transmitted cases.

"The situation is very worrying and the current outbreak is the most severe the city has experienced," said Matthew Cheung, chief secretary for administration of HKSAR, adding that the measures will be in place for seven days.

The city with a population of more than seven million, in July, halted dine-in services from 6 p.m. as concerns grew of a third wave of infections but allowed restaurants and cafes to function through the day as normal.

Click here for more.

The World Health Organization (WHO) needs to visit other countries and regions as well for tracing the origin of the novel coronavirus, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Wednesday.

"We hope all related countries can collaborate actively with WHO like what China did," he added.

Two WHO experts arrived in China in mid-July and conducted scientific cooperation on virus tracing. Multiple video conferences were held during their quarantine. They discussed topics including virus tracing and route of transmission with Chinese experts.

(Cover image via CFP)

Hong Kong's confirmed COVID-19 cases surpass 3,000

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Wednesday reported 118 new cases of COVID-19, including 113 locally transmitted cases and 5 from overseas, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection said.

Wednesday's number of new cases is higher than Tuesday's 106.

The Asian financial hub has reported over 3,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases since January, with 24 deaths.

COVID-19 cases in India surpass 1.5-million mark

India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 1.5 million-mark on Wednesday, with over 34,000 fatalities, the federal health ministry said.

U.S. was slow to recognize coronavirus threat from Europe: CDC director 

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Robert Redfield, on Tuesday admitted for the first time that the U.S. was slow to recognize the coronavirus threat from Europe.

"The introduction from Europe happened before we realized what was happening" Redfield said in an interview with ABC News, noting that "by the time we realized the Europe threat and shut down travel to Europe, there was probably already two or three weeks of 60,000 people coming back every day from Europe."

As of Tuesday evening, the U.S. has reported more than 4.3 million COVID-19 cases and 149,235 deaths nationwide, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.

Xinjiang reports 89 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported 89 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, all in the regional capital Urumqi, the regional health commission said Wednesday.

The region also registered 15 new asymptomatic cases on Tuesday.

By Tuesday, Xinjiang had 322 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 133 asymptomatic cases, and 9,121 people were still under medical observation.

Beijing reports one new COVID-19 case

On Tuesday, Beijing recorded one new COVID-19 case related to a confirmed case from northeast China's Dalian City, the municipal health commission said on Wednesday.

One more patient has recovered from COVID-19 in the city, as the number of active cases from the Xinfadi wholesale market cluster dropped to 24.

From June 11 to July 28, Beijing reported 335 confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the Xinfadi market, 311 of those patients were already discharged from hospitals.

Four asymptomatic cases are still under medical observation, according to the health commission. 

The Chinese mainland registered 101 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, three from overseas, and 98 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.

Of the domestic transmissions, 89 were reported in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, eight in the Liaoning Province, and one in Beijing, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Tuesday, while 10 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. 

Altogether, 78,944 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Tuesday, the report said, adding that a total of 84,060 COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland, including 4,634 deaths.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 2,884 (1,527 recoveries, 23 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 467 (440 recoveries, seven deaths) 

Belarus president says he had asymptomatic coronavirus

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday he had had the coronavirus without any symptoms and has already recovered from it, the BELTA news agency quoted him as saying.

UK PM warns of second wave in virus spat with Spain

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Tuesday of a "second wave" of coronavirus in Europe as he defended a controversial decision to quarantine all travelers arriving from Spain, despite criticism from Madrid.

Johnson insisted the UK had taken "swift and decisive" action at the weekend to impose a 14-day quarantine on everyone entering Britain from Spain – a major tourist destination for Britons. 

Johnson also said UK would take action to impose quarantines on other countries should COVID-19 infections rise and such measures become necessary.

"I'm afraid if we do see signs of a second wave in other countries, it is really our job, our duty, to act swiftly and decisively to stop travelers coming back from those places seeding the disease here in the UK," he told reporters.

U.S. Federal prisons report 101 COVID-19 deaths

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in the United States reported a total of 101 people have died, and 10,350 people were tested positive for COVID-19 so far, according to the official website on Tuesday.

The BOP has 128,978 federal inmates in BOP-managed institutions and 13,721 in community-based facilities. The BOP staff complement is approximately 36,000.

Madrid to make face masks compulsory to curb COVID-19 contagion

Madrid will make face masks compulsory everywhere as part of a package of measures aimed at preventing coronavirus infections, regional leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso said on Tuesday.

Bars must close at 1 a.m, and gatherings at outdoor restaurant terraces will be capped at 10 people, she said. The region recommends that private gatherings at home remain below 10 people, but that is not a legal obligation.

Additionally, she asked the central government to increase checks at Madrid's airport.

According to health ministry data, Spain has a total of 278,782 coronavirus cases as of Monday, up from 272,421 on Friday.

WHO says COVID-19 pandemic is 'one big wave', not seasonal

The World Health Organization on Tuesday warned against complacency about new coronavirus transmission in the northern hemisphere summer, saying that this virus did not behave like influenza that tended to follow seasonal trends.

Margaret Harris said the COVID-19 outbreak is different from seasonal pandemic on a virtual briefing in Geneva, urging vigilance in applying measures to slow transmission that is spreading via mass gatherings.

Harris also warned against thinking in terms of virus waves, saying that "It's going to be one big wave. It's going to go up and down a bit. The best thing is to flatten it and turn it into just something lapping at your feet."

Germany advises against travel to virus-hit Spanish regions

Germany's foreign ministry on Tuesday advised holidaymakers not to travel to several Spanish regions including Catalonia, home to Barcelona, that have seen coronavirus infection rates rise.

"We currently advise against unnecessary tourist trips to the autonomous communities of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre due to high infection numbers and local lockdowns," the ministry said on its website.

Spain's rise in COVID-19 cases has prompted most regions to impose rules for masks to be worn everywhere and, in several areas including Barcelona, calls for people to stay at home.

In Germany, the number of confirmed cases has increased by 633 to 206,242 and the reported death toll rose by 4 to 9,122, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday.

RKI head Lothar Wieler later said rapid rise in Germany's coronavirus numbers is very worrying and urged citizens to keep their distance and wear face masks.

Hong Kong reports 106 new COVID-19 cases, 98 locally transmitted 

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Tuesday reported 106 new cases of COVID-19, of which 98 were locally transmitted and others were from overseas, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection said.

Tuesday's number of new cases is slightly lower than Monday's record high of 145.

Of the newly confirmed local transmitted cases, 36 were infected at gatherings with relatives or friends, and others were infected at their workplaces, according to the local health authorities. 

Russia's coronavirus cases surpass 820,000

Russia reported 5,395 new novel coronavirus infections on Tuesday, bringing its nationwide tally to 823,515, the fourth largest in the world.

Russia's coronavirus task force said 150 people died over the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll in the country of around 145 million people to 13,504.

Latest developments on the global pandemic

The UK will cut the length of quarantine imposed on travelers from Spain to 10 days from 14 days if they test negative for COVID-19, Telegraph newspaper reported on Tuesday.

India's central health ministry on Tuesday reported 47,703 new COVID-19 cases and 654 new deaths, pushing the total tally to 1,483,156 infections and 33,425 deaths. 

Germany added 633 new positive cases to nationwide tally on Tuesday, as it now has registered 206,242 total coronavirus infections. The death toll rose by four to 9,122, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) showed.

South Korea on Tuesday reported 28 new cases, raising its total number of infections to 14,203. One more death was also confirmed, bringing the death toll to 300.

New Zealand reported one new case on Tuesday. It has been 88 days since the last positive case was acquired locally from an unknown source, according to the country's health ministry. The total number of confirmed cases is 1,207.

Australian state of Victoria on Tuesday reported 384 new cases and six more deaths. The state has registered a total of 9,049 confirmed cases and 83 deaths. Victoria on Monday reported a record high of 532 new cases, prompting authorities to warn an extension of the six-week lockdown.

Beijing reports 2 new COVID-19 cases, including 1 locally transmitted infection

Beijing on Monday recorded two new COVID-19 cases, one related to a confirmed case from northeast China's Dalian City and one from overseas, the municipal health commission said on Tuesday.

The new cases came after the capital city had reported no new cases for 21 days.  

Fourteen more patients have recovered from COVID-19 in the city, as the number of active cases from the Xinfadi wholesale market cluster dropped to 25.

Click here for more.

The Chinese mainland registered 68 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, four from overseas and 64 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.

Of the domestically transmitted cases, 57 were reported in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, six in the Liaoning Province and one in Beijing, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

No deaths related to the disease were reported Monday, while 16 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. There were 391 patients still being treated, including 20 in a severe state, the commission said in its daily report.

Altogether, 78,934 patients had been discharged from hospitals by Monday, the report said, adding that a total of 83,959 confirmed COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland, including 4,634 deaths.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 2,778 (1,486 recoveries, 22 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 462 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)

57 cases in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

The authorities in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported 57 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, all of them from Urumqi. 

Eighteen of the newly confirmed patients were previously asymptomatic cases.

A total of 13 new asymptomatic cases were reported in the region on Monday.

Six cases in Liaoning Province 

China's Liaoning Province reported six new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday. All newly confirmed patients are in the city of Dalian and were previously asymptomatic cases, according to the commission.

Dalian also reported 12 new asymptomatic cases on Monday.

As of Monday, the province had reported a total of 209 confirmed cases, including 33 imported ones. Forty-seven patients are receiving treatment. There are 42 asymptomatic cases still under medical observation. 

NE China's Liaoning Province reports 6 new local COVID-19 infections 

Northeast China’s Liaoning Province recorded six new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Monday and 12 new asymptomatic cases, all from Dalian City. 

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Liaoning now stands at 47, as the province has reported 209 coronavirus cases, including 33 from overseas as of the end of Monday. A total of 160 patients have recovered, while two people have died from COVID-19.

The World Health Organization says the coronavirus pandemic is the worst global health emergency it has ever faced. At an online news conference on Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the pandemic "continues to accelerate", with over 16 million cases reported worldwide. He also said the organization's emergency committee would meet on Thursday to discuss the situation. Tedros called on people to strictly adhere to health measures. 

COVID-19: Latest development around the world

Russia reported 5,635 new cases on Monday, its lowest daily rise since April 23, pushing its national tally to 818,120, the fourth largest in the world. A total of 85 people have died over the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 13,354.

Germany's total number of confirmed cases increased by 340 to 205,609, and the reported deaths remained unchanged at 9,118.

Kazakhstan confirmed 1,402 new cases over the past day, bringing the total to 83,122. Of the 1,402 new cases, 813 people have shown symptoms, and 589 are asymptomatic.

The Philippines reported 1,657 new cases with 16 new deaths, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 82,040 and death toll to 1,945. President Rodrigo Duterte said the country now has 93 accredited testing laboratories nationwide and aims to conduct 1.4 million tests by the end of July.

Oman recorded 1,053 new cases and 9 more deaths on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 77,058. The death toll now stands at 393. The country will impose a 14-day quarantine on all visitors entering the country, with its citizens allowed to quarantine at home.

Hong Kong reports 145 new COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Monday reported 145 new cases of COVID-19, of which 142 were locally transmitted and others were from overseas, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection said.

Monday's number of new cases is higher than Sunday's 128, setting a new record daily high.

HK announces extension of social-distancing amid spike in COVID-19 cases

Hong Kong on Monday announced further restrictions to curb a spike in coronavirus cases, including a ban on gatherings of more than two people, Matthew Cheung, chief secretary for administration of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said at a press briefing.

The latest measures, which will take effect from Wednesday, also include a complete ban on dining-in at restaurants and mandatory wearing of facemasks in all public places.

ROK denies person who fled to DPRK infected with new coronavirus

A Republic of Korea (ROK) health official on Monday said the person who fled to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was not infected with the novel coronavirus, after the DPRK claimed the individual was the first suspected case of COVID-19 in the country.

Read more:

DPRK sees 1st suspected COVID-19 case, adopts maximum emergency system

"The person is neither registered as a COVID-19 patient nor classified as a person who came in contact with virus patients," Yoon Tae-ho, a senior ROK health official, said at a press briefing on Monday.

Yoon said virus tests on two people who had close contact with the person had been conducted, and both of them tested negative for the virus.

The DPRK convened meeting and unanimously adopted a "maximum emergency system" after discovering the suspected case, state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday. 

However, KCNA did not specifically mention whether the individual had been tested.

Australia's Victoria reports record-high of new coronavirus cases

Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria reported on Monday six new deaths from the coronavirus and logged a record daily increase of 532 new cases compared with 459 a day earlier.

"Five of those six deaths are connected to outbreaks in aged care," state Premier Daniel Andrews said in a media briefing in Melbourne.

Victoria on Sunday suffered its deadliest day since the pandemic began after reporting 10 deaths, mostly at aged-care facilities.

The state recorded its previous one-day high of 484 cases last week.

Morocco will stop people entering and leaving some of its biggest cities from midnight to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases, the interior and health ministries said on Sunday.

The cities to be locked down include the economic powerhouse of Casablanca as well as Tangier, Marrakech, Fez and Meknes.

The country eased a nationwide lockdown a month ago, though international flights are still suspended except special flights by national airlines carrying Moroccans or foreign residents.

On Sunday, the health ministry said 633 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, one of the biggest daily rises so far, bringing the country's total number of confirmed infections to 20,278, with 313 deaths and 16,438 recoveries.

Morocco has adopted 1.1 million nucleic acid tests and has made mask wearing mandatory. It has extended an emergency decree, until August 10, giving authorities leeway in restoring restrictive measures on a region-by-region basis depending on developments in the epidemic.

The government expects Morocco to record a budget deficit of 7.5 percent of gross domestic product this year, and the economy to shrink by 5 percent.

The Chinese mainland registered 61 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, four from overseas and 57 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Monday.

Of the domestically transmitted cases, 41 were reported in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 14 were in Liaoning Province and two in Jilin Province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

No deaths related to the disease were reported Sunday, while 10 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 2,633 (1,495 recoveries, 18 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 458 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)
 

Xinjiang reports 41 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported 41 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, all in the regional capital Urumqi, the regional health commission said Monday. 

The region also registered 38 new asymptomatic cases on Sunday.

By Sunday, Xinjiang had 178 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 170 asymptomatic cases, and 8,795 people were still under medical observation. 

Ghanaian health authorities registered 794 new infections of the novel coronavirus in the early hours of Sunday, bringing the country's total caseload to 31, 851, according to the latest update by the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

The number of recovered cases increased to 28,438, with 637 more cases discharged after treatment.

The country's COVID-19 death toll remained at 161, while the active cases stood at 3,252, said the GHS.

The Ghana COVID-19 Fund set up by private sector businesses in the wake of the outbreak of the pandemic in the country commissioned on Friday a 100-bed infectious disease isolation and treatment center to support the country's fight against COVID-19 and the management of future infectious disease outbreaks.

The center constructed by the 48 Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces at the cost of about 7.5 million U.S. dollars is the first such facility in the West African country.

Hong Kong reports 128 new COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Sunday reported 128 new cases of COVID-19, of which 103 were locally transmitted and 25 were from overseas, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection said.

Sunday's number of new cases is slightly lower than Saturday's record daily high of 133.

The Asian financial hub has reported over 2,600 confirmed COVID-19 cases since January, with 18 deaths.

NHC official calls for expansion of nucleic acid testing in China's Dalian

Director of China's National Health Commission (NHC) Ma Xiaowei said on Saturday that the city of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province should conduct widescale nucleic acid testing for COVID-19 and hopes full coverage can be achieved in four days.

Dalian reported the first domestic case in the current local cluster on July 22 after over 110 days of zero new local infections. 

Ma, who leads a NHC group guiding epidemic control work in Dalian City, stressed a race against time was underway to curb the outbreak.

The city announced that it would be entering "wartime" mode earlier this week in the wake of the new cluster, which is linked to a local seafood processing company. 

HKSAR government introduces new rules limiting ship crew movement 

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on Sunday that ship crews will be prohibited from coming on land starting July 29, and will only be allowed to travel directly between their boats and the airport, or vice-versa, on transport arranged by their employers.

The government said rotation of sailors via Hong Kong will only be allowed for vessels bringing daily goods into the city.

Meanwhile, a virus test and quarantine will be asked for plane crew if they do not provide proof of a negative coronavirus test result in the 48 hours before their flight to Hong Kong.

The new rules will end when the situation in Hong Kong is brought under control, the government said.

The Asian financial hub has seen a growing number of new cases in recent weeks, with sources of some cases remaining unknown.

As of Saturday, a total of 2,505 cases including 18 deaths were recorded in Hong Kong.

ROK official sees 'high chances' individual crossed border into DPRK

A military official from the Republic of Korea (ROK) said on Sunday that there were "high chances" an individual illegally crossed the border into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"The military is looking into the detailed routes, seeing high chances of a certain person's border crossing into the North," Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the official. 

The remarks came after the DPRK reported its first suspected case of COVID-19 in Kaesong City, a person who illegally returned to the country.

(Cover: Kaesong City, a border town of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, December 26, 2018. /Xinhua) 

UK quarantines travelers from Spain in sudden blow to Europe's revival

Britain abruptly imposed a two-week quarantine on all travelers arriving from Spain after a surge of coronavirus cases, a dramatic and sudden reversal on Saturday to the opening of the European continent to tourism after months of lockdown. 

The quarantine requirement takes effect from midnight (2300 GMT on Saturday), making it almost impossible for travelers to avoid it by rushing home. The British foreign ministry also advised against all but essential travel to mainland Spain, a move likely to prompt tour operators to cancel package holidays and trigger claims against insurers.

Click here for more. 

The Chinese mainland registered 46 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, 11 from overseas and 35 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Sunday.

Of the domestically transmitted cases, 22 were reported in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and 13 were in Liaoning Province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

No deaths related to the disease were reported Saturday, while 19 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 2,505 (1,455 recoveries, 18 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 458 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)

NE China's Liaoning reports 13 new local infections

An additional 13 confirmed COVID-19 cases, all locally transmitted, were reported in northeast China's Liaoning Province on Saturday, the provincial health commission said on Sunday.

Twelve out of the 13 were found in the port city Dalian and were people previously observed as asymptomatic cases. 

Another confirmed case registered in Tieling City is related to cases in Dalian. 

The health commission also reported 14 asymptomatic cases on Saturday, all of them in Dalian.

Dalian rolls out mass testing in light of case spike

Dalian reported the first domestic case in the current local cluster on July 22 after over 110 days of zero new local infections.

The city announced that it would be entering "wartime" mode earlier this week in the wake of the new cluster, which is linked to a local seafood processing company. 

On Saturday, the municipal authority said mass virus testing had been rolled out citywide in light of the resurgence and that the government would cover the fees. 

By Saturday afternoon, at least 210,000 people had received nucleic acid tests. 

The city has recorded over 20 confirmed cases since July 22.

Brazil registers 1,211 coronavirus deaths on Saturday

Brazil registered an additional 1,211 deaths attributable to the novel coronavirus over the last 24 hours and another 51,147 confirmed cases, the health ministry said on Saturday.

The South American nation has now registered 86,449 deaths and 2,394,513 total confirmed cases.

DPRK reports first suspected case of COVID-19

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) reported its first suspected case of COVID-19 in Kaesong City, a person who illegally returned to the country from the Republic of Korea (ROK) on July 19, state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday. 

An emergency meeting was later convened by DPRK leader Kim Jong Un to discuss the situation and unanimously adopted the "maximum emergency system" decision.

Kim also declared a state of emergency in the relevant area, according to KCNA.

The DPRK has so far reported no confirmed COVID-19 infections.

The unnamed person "was put under strict quarantine as a primary step and all the persons ... who contacted that person and those who have been to the city in the last five days are being thoroughly investigated" and quarantined, KCNA said.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Twitter that he tested negative for coronavirus on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Bolsonaro had a positive result for the novel coronavirus in his third test since falling ill on July 7. 

Latest on novel coronavirus around the globe

Russia registered 5,871 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 806,720, its COVID-19 response center said in a statement Saturday. Meanwhile, 146 more deaths were reported, bringing the total tally to 13,192.

India's health ministry said on Saturday morning that 757 new COVID-19-related deaths and 48,916 new infections were reported during the past 24 hours, making the number of deaths to 31,358 and total infections to 1,336,861.

South Korea reported 113 more COVID-19 cases as of midnight Saturday in 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 14,092. The daily caseload jumped above 100 since April 1 due to a surge in imported cases and continued small cluster infections.

Indonesia reported 1,868 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, bringing the total to 97,286, data from its COVID-19 task force showed. The number of deaths related to COVID-19 rose by 49, hitting 4,714 in total.

(With input from agencies)

Hong Kong reports 133 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) Saturday reported 133 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, hitting a new daily high.

The 133 new cases include 126 local infections and seven cases from overseas, bringing the total number of cases to over 2,500 in Hong Kong, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the CHP's Communicable Disease Branch at a media briefing on Saturday afternoon.

NE China's Dalian reports 24 new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases

Dalian City in northeast China's Liaoning Province reported no new confirmed domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, but 24 new asymptomatic cases from 3:00 p.m. on Friday to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, the city's officials said during a press briefing.

Authorities said that 10 of the 12 confirmed cases in Dalian are staff at a local seafood processing company. Meanwhile, 46 of the 54 asymptomatic cases in the city are from the company or its dependents.

The local government has ordered a 14-day quarantine for all close contacts of the company's staff and will conduct at least two coronavirus tests for them.

The city has also mobilized a team of over 150 people to disinfect the seafood company.

Latest developments on COVID-19 around the world

Chile's total number of COVID-19 cases has risen to 341,304, with 8,914 deaths. According to the Chilean Ministry of Health, 2,545 new cases and 76 more deaths from the virus were registered in the last 24 hours.

Iraq reported on Friday 2,485 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 104,711. It also reported 90 fatalities during the day, raising the death toll to 4,212 in the country, while 1,863 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 71,268.

Egypt reported on Friday 659 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the country to 91,072. The death toll from the virus rose to 4,518 after 38 new fatalities were added, the lowest daily number in nearly six weeks.

South Korea reported 113 cases of the new coronavirus on Saturday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, the largest one day increase since March, bringing the country's total to 14,092. Of the new cases, 86 were imported and 27 were domestic infections.

The Chinese mainland registered 34 new COVID-19 cases on Friday – five from overseas and 29 domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.

Of the domestically transmitted cases, 20 are in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and nine in Liaoning Province.

Of the cases from overseas, two were reported in Shanghai, two in Guangdong Province and another in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. 

No deaths related to the disease were reported Friday, while 16 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.

The number of confirmed cases in China's Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions (SARs) are as follows:

Hong Kong SAR: 2,372 (1,407 recoveries, 16 deaths)

Macao SAR: 46  (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 458 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)

20 new cases in Xinjiang 

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported 20 new confirmed domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Friday, the regional health commission said Saturday.

The region also registered 38 new asymptomatic cases, all in Urumqi, on Friday.

So far, Xinjiang has 115 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 114 asymptomatic cases, with 7,170 people under medical observation.

Record number of new COVID-19 cases reported to WHO over the past 24 hours

There were 284,196 new COVID-19 cases reported to the World Health Organization in the last 24 hours, according to a situation report published Friday.

The number set another record for cases reported to WHO within a 24-hour period. 

The United States has reported over 70,009 new infections and 1,096 deaths in 24 hours, according to data released by Johns Hopkins University.

There are at least 4,091,062 cases of coronavirus, and at least 145,063 people have died from the virus in the country.

Brazil's health ministry said it recorded 55,891 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the country's total to 2,343,366.

It also registered 1,156 new fatalities due to the virus, raising the total death toll to 85,238.

With Friday's new cases, Brazil has added a total of nearly 300,000 new COVID-19 infections in the last seven days.

Beijing public transportation services to resume to normal 

Beijing will fully resume its ground public transportation and urban rail transit services following its decision to lower the emergency response to COVID-19 from Level II to Level III in the city, according to local media reports citing the municipal commission of transportation.

Beijing will also gradually restore inter-provincial and chartered bus transport services, from Beijing to low-risk areas for COVID-19 which were earlier disrupted by the novel coronavirus epidemic, the reports said.

Meanwhile, cinemas in the city resumed operations on Friday, with 39 domestic and foreign films on show on the first day after months-long closure amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases for the 18th straight day on Thursday. The citywide total number of cases since an outbreak was detected at the Xinfadi wholesale market on June 11 stands at 335, the municipal health commission said on Friday. 

Fourteen more patients recovered on Thursday, taking the total number of recoveries to 270 in the local cluster infections.

(Cover: Haidian District in Beijing, capital of China, July 19, 2020. /People's Daily) 

The number of daily passenger flights in China has rebounded to 80 percent of pre-coronavirus levels, China's aviation regulator said on Friday, as the aviation industry recovers from the plunge in travel demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 23, Chinese airlines operated 13,059 passenger flights, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said.

Daily passenger traffic was nearly 70 percent of the level seen last year, with load factors, a measure of how well airlines are filling available seats, averaging 73.57 percent.

The global aviation industry is closely watching capacity in China as a harbinger of demand recovery trends.

Even as China reported fresh COVID-19 cases in some parts of the country, domestic travel demand was robust, as travel restrictions eased and airfares remained cheap.

Beijing is also allowing more international flights, but requires all arrival passengers to provide negative COVID-19 test results before boarding.

Russia PM says international fights to resume from August 1

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Friday that the international flights will be resumed from August 1 this year and the approved destinations are UK, Tanzania and Turkey. 

Mishustin said flights will restart from the cities include Moscow, St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don. 

Disney postpones 'Mulan' indefinitely, delays 'Avatar' and 'Star Wars'

Walt Disney Co on Thursday postponed the debut of its movie "Mulan" indefinitely, dealing a new blow to theater operators that were counting on the live-action epic to help attract audiences during a pandemic.

"Mulan" was scheduled to reach theaters in March but its release has been postponed several times as many cinemas remain closed. The film had most recently been set to debut on August 21 and theater operators had hoped it would help spark a late-summer rebound for movie-going.

Disney also said it had delayed the next film installments from two of its biggest franchises, "Avatar" and "Star Wars," by one year as the novel coronavirus has disrupted production.

The "Avatar" sequel is now set to debut in theaters in December 2022, and the next "Star Wars" movie in December 2023.

"It's become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis," a Disney representative said. "Today that means pausing our release plans for 'Mulan' as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world."

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Hong Kong reports 123 new COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Friday reported 123 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, including 115 locally transmitted cases and eight from overseas, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) said.

The sources of infection of the 53 cases remain unknown, the CHP noted.

The number of new cases sets a fresh single-day record since the outbreak of the epidemic.

The National Health Commission said on Friday that it will provide all necessary support in response to the HKSAR government's need for curbing the epidemic.

Chinese health authority said Thursday that the Chinese mainland registered 22 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, including three cases from overseas and 19 domestically transmitted.

Of the 19 domestically-transmitted cases, 18 are in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the other in Liaoning Province.

Of the three cases from overseas, one was reported in Shanghai, one in Guangdong Province and one in Shaanxi Province, said the National Health Commission.

No deaths related to the disease or new suspected COVID-19 cases were reported Wednesday, while 15 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Wednesday for the 17th day in a row. The total number of cases, since the Xinfadi market outbreak was discovered on June 11, stands at 335, the municipal health commission said on Thursday.

Eight more patients recovered on Wednesday, taking the total number of recoveries to 256 in the local cluster.

Eight asymptomatic patients are under medical observation in the Chinese capital, and no new asymptomatic cases have been reported. 

Latest COVID-19 developments around the world

Brazil recorded a new daily record of coronavirus cases Wednesday with 67,860 infections, a sign COVID-19 is still far from control. The health ministry said 1,284 deaths had been reported in the past 24 hours, 2.2 million infections and 82,771 deaths in total.

Chile on Wednesday reported 336,402 COVID-19 cases and 8,722 deaths from the disease, after tests detected 1,741 new cases in the past 24 hours and 45 more deaths.

Israel's Ministry of Health recorded 2,043 new cases on Wednesday, lifting the total number to 56,085. The death toll increased from 425 to 430, while the number of patients in serious condition rising from 256 to 273, out of 665 hospitalized.

Egypt reported on Wednesday 41 deaths from COVID-19, the lowest in nearly six weeks, bringing the death toll to 4,440, said the Health Ministry. Meanwhile, 667 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed, raising the total number to 89,745,

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, recorded 2,586 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the total infections to 281,413. The pandemic has so far claimed 14,853 lives, up by 219 in the past 24 hours.

Turkey's COVID-19 cases increased by 902 on Wednesday, while the total cases climbed to 222,402, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said. Meanwhile, 19 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,545.

At least 15,007,291 cases of the new coronavirus, including 617,603 deaths, have been detected worldwide since the pandemic emerged late last year, according to an AFP tally on Wednesday.

The United States is the hardest hit country with 3,915,780 cases and 142,312 deaths. In the last seven days, more than 1.6 million new cases have been detected globally.

The figures of detected infections likely reflect only a portion of the real number of cases.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Wednesday he is hopeful that Russia will produce a reliable vaccine against COVID-19 by the fall.

"At the moment, 17 scientific organizations are working on more than 26 types of vaccines," Mishustin said as he reported the work of his government to the Russian State Duma, or lower house of parliament.

According to Russia's consumer rights and human well-being watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, four vaccines have proved safe so far, while clinical trials of two of them are at the final stage, with trials of the other two starting soon, Mishustin said.

The most important next steps are to prepare production sites and make sure that all the vaccines are safe, he added.

"I am convinced that our solutions will be in demand in Russia and around the world," Mishustin said.

One locally transmitted COVID-19 case reported in China's Liaoning 

A locally transmitted COVID-19 case was reported in Dalian City, of northeast China's Liaoning Province on Wednesday. 

A 58-year-old staff member of a seafood processing enterprise showed symptoms on July 16.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has had another positive result for the novel coronavirus in the third test he has taken since falling ill on July 7.

He took the test on Tuesday, according to an official statement. The president is still in good condition, accompanied by the presidency's medical team, it said. 

Urumqi collects over 1 million samples for coronavirus testing

Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has collected samples from over one million people for coronavirus nucleic acid testing as of Tuesday, the city's officials said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

Authorities said 24 nucleic acid testing institutions are carrying out citywide free coronavirus testing in Urumqi, and all these institutions have met the standards of Laboratory Biosafety Levels 2 (BSL-2).

HKSAR reports record daily rise in COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) reported 113 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, a record daily increase in the number of cases.

As many as 105 of the total are cases of local transmission.

The HKSAR is implementing new virus containment measures from Wednesday midnight, such as mandatory mask wearing in all indoor public areas including malls and markets, Health Secretary Sophia Chan said.

Maxim's mooncake factory suspends production to curb COVID-19 

Maxim's Caterers said on Tuesday its mooncake factory in Tai Po area in Hong Kong has suspended production after one employee tested positive for COVID-19.  

Hong Kong-based Maxim's Caterers is well known for its cake shops, moon cakes and dim sum. The company said all of the mooncakes from the factory were destroyed and it has conducted thorough disinfection in the factory.  

All employees in the factory will take nucleic acid tests and will undergo a 14-day quarantine, the company added.  
 

13 South Korean soldiers in frontline unit test positive for COVID-19

At least 13 soldiers in a frontline unit from South Korea have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Yonhap News Agency citing the military officials on Wednesday. 

The source of infection is still unknown for the new cases, which the report noted as "raising concerns over a possible cluster infection in barracks."

The South Korean military earlier put 50 soldiers who were in close contact to an individual with COVID-19 into isolation and the officials said the infections in the military could increase. 

On Wednesday, South Korea reported 63 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationwide, which brings the total infections to 13,879 in the country.

(Cover: VCG file photo) 

New research suggests that antibodies the immune system makes to fight the new coronavirus may only last a few months in people with mild illness, but that doesn't mean protection also is gone or that it won't be possible to develop an effective vaccine.

"Infection with this coronavirus does not necessarily generate lifetime immunity," but antibodies are only part of the story, said Dr. Buddy Creech, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University. He had no role in the work, published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Otto Yang and others at the University of California, Los Angeles, measured these more precise antibodies in 30 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and four housemates presumed to have the disease. Their average age was 43 and most had mild symptoms.

Researchers found that the antibodies had a half-life of 73 days, which means that half of them would be gone after that much time.

Peer studies

The U.S research dovetails with a previous report from China which suggests antibodies may quickly fade.

The one, published in Nature Medicine on June 18, highlights the risks of using COVID-19 "immunity passports" and supports the prolonged use of public health interventions such as social distancing and isolating high-risk groups.

After studying 37 symptomatic patients and 37 asymptomatic patients, researchers found that of those who tested positive for the presence of the antibody, over 90 percent showed sharp declines in 2-3 months.

Besides a similar study led by UK researchers also shows that patients who recover from coronavirus infections may lose their immunity to reinfection within months.

Scientists at King's College London noted immunity cannot be taken for granted and may not last more than a few months, as is true with other viruses such as influenza.

Caution against herd immunity and vaccine

The results "call for caution regarding antibody-based 'immunity passports,' herd immunity, and perhaps vaccine durability," the California authors write.

That's true, Creech said, but other parts of the immune system also help confer protection. Besides churning out antibodies, B cells develop a memory so they know how to do that again if needed.

"They would get called into action very quickly when there's a new exposure to the virus. It's as if they lie dormant, just waiting," he said.

Other while blood cells called T cells also are better able to attack the virus the next time they see it, Creech said.

Although circulating antibodies may not last long, what we need to know is if and how people remake antibodies if exposed to the coronavirus again and if they protect against another infection, Alison Criss, an immunologist at the University of Virginia, wrote in an email.

"We also need to know if there is a protective T cell response" that reappears.

Vaccines, which provoke the immune system to make antibodies, might give longer-lasting protection than natural infection because they use purified versions of what stimulates that response, she noted.

"This shouldn't dissuade us from pursuing a vaccine," Creech said. "Antibodies are only a part of the story."

(With input from AP)

The Chinese mainland confirmed 14 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, of which nine were domestically transmitted in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). The other five cases were from overseas, with two confirmed in Shanghai, one in Guangdong Province and one in Yunnan Province.

No deaths related to the disease were registered, according to the NHC. 

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows: 

Hong Kong: 2,018 (1,324 recoveries, 14 deaths) 

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries) 

Taiwan: 455 (440 recoveries, 7 deaths)

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Tuesday for the 16th day in a row. The total number of cases since an outbreak was discovered at the Xinfadi market on June 11 stands at 335, the municipal health commission said on Wednesday.

Seventeen more patients recovered on Tuesday, taking the total number of recoveries to 248 in the local cluster.

As of now, nine asymptomatic people are under medical observation in the Chinese capital and no new asymptomatic cases have been reported. 

CDC: U.S. COVID-19 cases may be 6 to 24 times higher than reported 

The true number of COVID-19 cases in the United States may be 6 to 24 times higher than reported, according to a new study published Tuesday.

In the cross-sectional study of 16,025 residual clinical specimens, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the proportion of persons with detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies ranged from 1 percent in the San Francisco Bay area to 6.9 percent in New York City.

The pandemic in the U.S. will probably get worse before it gets better, U.S. President Donald Trump said at a press briefing Tuesday.

The U.S. has recorded 14,835,470 cases as of 6:34 p.m. EDT on Tuesday with 613,710 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports released a file on Tuesday evening, informing that the sports venues and activities are allowed to run since the city lowered the level of emergency response to COVID-19 from Level II to Level III on Monday.

According to the file, a sports activity with less than 500 participants could be held normally, and if the number passes 500, the activity should be audited by local government's COVID-19 pandemic management organizations in advance.

The file requires each sports venue to limit the people to 50 percent of its capacity, and all people must reserve the places remotely before using it. Besides, people are required to strictly keep the distance when doing sports activities, and operators of the sports venues should disinfect the sites and equipment properly.

Face masks and body temperature check are required in any other public places, and the time for sporting is suggested to be no more than two hours.

(Cover: Beijing Ditan Stadium, Beijing, China, May 13, 2020. /CFP)

Six prisons in Australia's Victoria go into lockdown after confirmed COVID-19 case

Six prisons in Australia's Victoria went into lockdown on Tuesday night after a prison worker tested positive for coronavirus, local media reported citing Corrections Victoria.

The staff member employed at Ravenhall Corrections Centre in Melbourne's west entered self-isolation on July 16 after being notified as a close contact of a positive case. The five other prisons are being locked down because of prisoner movement, reports said.  

Victoria reported 374 new COVID-19 cases overnight and three more patients have died, according to local health authorities.

The world's first COVID-19 lung transplant recipient was discharged from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University (Hubei General Hospital) on July 2. The 65-year-old patient, identified as Cui Zhiqiang, was allowed to leave the hospital after undergoing treatment for 92 days. Cui suffered from irreversible pulmonary dysfunction caused by COVID-19. China is the first country in the world to conduct lung transplant surgery on COVID-19 patients. Cui is one of the six patients who have successfully undergone organ transplant surgery.

Iran reports 2,625 new COVID-19 cases, 278,827 in total

Iran on Tuesday recorded 2,625 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 278,827, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education said.

Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the health ministry, said during her daily update that the death toll from the virus in the country rose to 14,634 after 229 new deaths were added.

Out of the new patients, 1,977 were hospitalized, said Lari. So far, there have been 242,351 recoveries, while 3,589 still remain in critical condition, she added.

The health spokeswoman noted that 2,201,958 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran as of Tuesday.

She said 25 out of 31 provinces are either in high-risk or on alert over the disease. 

Iran announced its first COVID-19 cases on February 19.

Nepal said Tuesday it will resume international commercial flights in mid-August, in a boost for its coronavirus-hit tourism sector.

The Himalayan nation shut its airports in late March to control the spread of the virus, which has so far reported 17,844 positive cases with 40 deaths caused by the virus in the country.

The shutdown hit just before the peak of the tourism season, when hundreds of mountaineers and trekkers visit Nepal, costing the industry – a key part of the country's economy – millions of dollars.

The decision to restart commercial domestic and international flights from August 17 was taken in a cabinet meeting Monday, Nepal's Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Yogesh Bhattarai said.

"The ministry is working on safety protocols for airport management, flight operators and passengers for the purpose," he said.

All arriving and departing international passengers would need to have a certificate to prove they are not carrying the virus.

Bhattarai said arriving travelers would also have to stay in quarantine, but he didn't specifying the duration.

About one-third of the 1.2 million visitors to Nepal last year arrived during the autumn season, according to government figures.

Five more U.S. military personnel test positive for coronavirus in Japan's Okinawa

On Tuesday, Okinawa authorities said five new infections were recorded at U.S. military bases in the prefecture, raising the total number of cases among U.S. military service members in Okinawa to 148.

Official data published on U.S. Forces Japan's (USFJ) website showed about 90 percent of COVID-19 cases detected among U.S. military bases in Japan were from Okinawa.

Hong Kong reports 61 new COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Tuesday reported 61 new COVID-19 cases, including 58 locally transmitted infections and three cases imported from overseas. 

Two more deaths were also recorded, pushing the city's death toll to 14. 

The Asian financial hub now has over 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Russia reports nearly 6,000 new coronavirus cases

Russia reported 5,842 new novel coronavirus infections on Tuesday, pushing its total case tally to 783,328, the fourth largest in the world.

The country's coronavirus response center said 153 people died in the past 24 hours, bringing Russia's overall death toll from the virus to 12,580.

Cinemas in Beijing can reopen from July 24 

The Beijing Municipal Government on Tuesday said movie theaters in the national capital's low-risk areas can resume business from July 24.

On Monday, Beijing was cleared of all COVID-19 medium- and high-risk areas after no new cases were reported for 14 straight days.

A COVID-19 candidate vaccine developed by Beijing-based Sinovac Life Sciences Co., in collaboration with Brazilian research institute Butantan, landed in Brazil. Twelve research centers in six Brazilian states will perform the 9,000 tests on the volunteers in the next 90 days. It is the third and the last stage of testing before distribution.

Researchers in Moscow have found that the novel coronavirus that came to the country was from Europe rather than China, after they completed the first study of genomic epidemiology in the country, Russian broadcaster RT reported on Monday.

Researchers from Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) along with three other local scientific institutions analyzed 211 virus samples taken from the patients in Russia from March 11 to April 23, and confirmed that "COVID-19 made its way into Russia from Europe in late February and early March," according to a report on the Skoltech website.

They combined the genetic analysis with travel history data, and found at least 67 independent introductions of the virus into the country from Europe and not China, which caused "at least 9 distinct Russian lineages corresponding to domestic transmission," said the research paper published on medRxiv on Friday.

The mayor of Moscow said in March that many Russians were infected with the novel coronavirus during their holidays in Europe, especially at the French ski resort of Courchevel, RT added.

All travelers arriving in Chinese mainland should hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate no older than five days before boarding, Civil Aviation Administration, General Administration of Customs, and China's Foreign Ministry  announced on Tuesday.

EU leaders reached a deal on a landmark post-COVID-19 recovery package on Tuesday after four days of intensive negotiations over next seven-year EU budget and a massive recovery fund.

As New York City started phase 4 of its reopening Monday, some of the city's most famous tourist attractions opened to visitors for the first time since March.

Visitors trickled on to the Statue of Liberty ferry, but most said it seemed a little weird to be doing tourist activities.

"It feels very weird to be a tourist. It's not exactly what we would have wanted but we're trying to, as much as we can, take precautions to make sure that we stay safe and that we're not endangering anybody here," said Ethan Ghozali, a tourist from Florida.

"It's a freeing moment because we were in lockup for so long. And this is like ... the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of the freedom. And today's the first day, so we wanted to greet her," said Bo Szwec, a visitor from Jersey City.

New York City didn't open malls or museums as originally expected in phase 4. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said most indoor activities will be delayed.

The rest of New York state is in phase 4, which typically permits opening malls and certain arts and entertainment centers and restarting professional sports games without fans. But Cuomo said no "additional indoor activity" will open in New York in the fourth phase because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus indoors.

Cuomo hasn't allowed New York City to open up indoor dining, unlike the rest of the state.

(With input from AP and AFP)

The Chinese mainland confirmed 11 new COVID-19 cases Monday, of which eight were domestically transmitted in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). The other three cases were from overseas, with two confirmed in Shanghai and one in Sichuan Province.

No deaths related to the disease were registered, according to the NHC. 

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows: 

Hong Kong: 1,958 (1,302 recoveries, 12 deaths) 

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries) 

Taiwan: 455 (440 recoveries, 7 deaths)

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Monday for the 15th day in a row. The total number of cases since a cluster outbreak was discovered at the Xinfadi market on June 11 stands at 335, the municipal health commission said on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 248 patients, or 74 percent of the total patients in the local cluster, have recovered while none of the remaining 87 hospitalized patients are seriously or critically ill, a senior municipal official told a daily press briefing Tuesday afternoon.

As of now, nine asymptomatic people are under medical observation in the Chinese capital.

Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who's also at Tuesday's briefing, said the Xinfadi market outbreak and its related spread have ended as Beijing lowered its emergency response level to COVID-19 on Monday. 

But Wu warned resurgence could become a "normality" given a similar outbreak could happen in other parts of China and growing pressure from overseas as more international flights resuming operation. 

Brazil's Minister of Citizenship Onyx Lorenzoni tested positive for COVID-19

Brazil's Minister of Citizenship Onyx Lorenzoni revealed Monday on Twitter that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

Lorenzoni said he experienced symptoms from July 16 and conducted polymerase chain reaction test the next day.

Earlier, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and three other senior officials have tested positive for COVID-19. 

Brazil has reported more than 2 million cases of COVID-19 with 79,488 deaths nationwide and seen the world's second-largest outbreak, after the United States, in terms of both the death toll and caseload. 

Two COVID-19 vaccine candidates, one from China and the other from the UK, have proven safe for humans and produced strong immune reactions among patients involved in two separate clinical trials, the Lancet medical journal announced on Monday.

The first trial, which the World Health Organization (WHO) claims is leading the global vaccine race, is from Oxford University. It's regarded as one of the most advanced for development. 

On Monday, the university published its results from the first phase of human trials, which involved more than 1,000 adults in UK aged between 18 and 55. 

Scientists say the vaccine contains a "double protection" against the disease. Not only does it produce antibodies – which are the immune system's natural response – it also produces T-cells that directly kill virus infected cells.

"Well I think there's increasing evidence that having a T-cell response as well as antibodies could be very important in controlling COVID-19," professor Adrian Hill, Director of the Jenner Institute, Oxford University told CGTN.

"We see people who've recovered from a COVID illness who have essentially no measurable antibodies but do have T-cells. So the guess there is that the T-cells have been important in helping them to clear their infection," Hill said. 

The UK vaccine, called AZD1222, is developed by AstraZeneca and scientists at Oxford University. Authors say further clinical studies, including in older adults, should be done with this vaccine. 

Current results focus on immune response measured in the laboratory. Further testing is needed to confirm if the vaccine effectively protects against infection.

'Chinese counterpart'

A separate trial in China involving 508 people has also yielded "much better" results in its Phase II in terms of the safety and ability to trigger immune response, a previous study shows.

The Chinese vaccine, named Ad5-nCOV, is developed by CanSino Biologics Inc and a military research unit. The Lancet said Phase 3 trials are needed to confirm whether the vaccine candidate effectively protects against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

According to the company, China's success in driving down COVID-19 infections has made it harder to conduct large-scale vaccine trials.

The vaccine developer is in talks with Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia to launch a Phase III trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, its co-founder said on Saturday.

"We are contacting Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia (for the Phase III trial), and it's still in discussion," Qiu Dongxu, executive director and co-founder of CanSino, told an anti-viral drug development conference in Suzhou, in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Global vaccine race

The two are among more than 21 candidate vaccines that have shown promise in human testing, along with projects involving Moderna, BioNTech, and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, according to Margaret Harris, spokeswomen at WHO. 

"We know we've got lots of options here, but we can't put it down to days of weeks," she told CGTN when asked if it's possible to make more accurate projections on vaccine timetables. 

Harris also mentioned it's important to look at not only how to accelerate relevant researches and keep on sharing, but also how to distribute this fairly, who to prioritize and ensure that those most at risk are protected first.

Latest on coronavirus in the UK, more job cuts and vaccine development 

- British retailer Marks & Spencer could cut up to 950 management and administrative jobs to counter slumping profits and sales in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.

- In tourism, Beefeaters, the guardians of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, are facing redundancies for the first time because of plummeting number of visitors. Beefeaters are formally known as the Queen's Body Guard of the Yeoman of the Guard.

- On vaccine development front, early-stage human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University induced "strong antibody and T cell immune responses" against the novel coronavirus, The Lancet medical journal said. The phase I trial in healthy adult volunteers began in April. 

- Meanwhile, British business ministry said on Monday that it has signed deals to secure 90 million doses of two possible COVID-19 vaccines from an alliance of Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, and French group Valneva.

- Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a successful vaccine was unlikely by the end of this year. "To say that I'm 100% confident that we'll get a vaccine, this year or indeed next year, is alas, just an exaggeration. We're not there yet."

AstraZeneca's experimental COVID-19 vaccine was safe and produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials in healthy volunteers, data showed on Monday.

The vaccine, called AZD1222 and under development by AstraZeneca and scientists at Britain's Oxford University, did not prompt any serious side effects and elicited antibody and T-cell immune responses, according to trial results published in The Lancet medical journal.

Japan's COVID-19 death toll tops 1,000

Japan's nationwide death toll from COVID-19 has hit 1,000, with the figure including cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined near Tokyo, according to the latest data from the health ministry and local authorities on Monday.

Meanwhile, the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 342 to reach 25,767 as of Monday evening.

Japan reported the first death from COVID-19 on February 13 when a Japanese woman in her 80s from Kanagawa Prefecture, just southwest of the capital, was found to be infected with the virus after she died.

As the number of confirmed cases continued to rise across the country, the cumulative death toll surpassed 100 on April 8.

Since June, although there was an upward trend in new infections, the number of new deaths has declined in the country. Some experts believed it may be due to the fact that many of the newly infected are young people under the age of 30 who have a relatively lower risk of death.

However, the number of severely ill patients gradually increased since this month, with experts urging improvement to the medical system to secure enough beds for the patients.

Samples of food, sewage test negative for coronavirus in Urumqi

Samples of food, sewage as well as those from several environments in Urumqi, the capital city of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have tested negative for the new coronavirus, a municipal official told a briefing on Monday afternoon.

The testing was conducted following a resurgence of domestic infection of COVID-19 in the northwestern Chinese city.

The external environment with potential virus contamination also has been disinfected, the official added.

Between July 15 and Sunday (July 19), 46 confirmed cases have been found in Urumqi, along with another 50 asymptomatic cases.

Among the 46 patients, two are seriously ill, but all of them are in stable condition. 

Travel agencies in Beijing can now resume their inter-provincial group tours, and process domestic flight bookings and accommodation reservations, local authorities announced on Monday.

Group tours to medium- and high-risk areas are not allowed yet, and the same goes for trips to flood-hit areas, according to the notice by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism. Overseas travel has yet to get the go-ahead.

Tourist attractions in the city should continue to follow epidemic prevention measures such as entry by appointment only and limits on numbers of visitors. The number of tourists at scenic spots has been adjusted from 30 percent of their maximum capacity to 50 percent. Indoor attractions will reopen gradually.

Tourist sites should strengthen cleaning and disinfection procedures, including garbage classification, and avoid crowd congestion.

Zero infection among 434,000 medical staff across Beijing: official 

A total of 434,000 medical staff across Beijing have tested negative for the new coronavirus as of Sunday, an official told a daily news briefing on Monday.

Medical staff at fever clinics and those responsible for taking nucleic acid testing no longer need to live together and could return to normal starting Monday, Gao Xiaojun, spokesperson for the municipal health commission said. 

Beijing has reported zero new domestic infections for 14 days running, and as of now, 104 patients are still hospitalized, but none of them is in serious or critical condition. 

Australia warns coronavirus outbreak will take weeks to tame

A surge in COVID-19 cases in Australia's second-biggest city could take weeks to subside despite a lockdown and orders to wear masks, Australia's acting chief medical officer said on Monday as the country braces for a second wave of infection.

Authorities in the state of Victoria, whose capital Melbourne is in partial lockdown amid a new outbreak, reported 275 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, down from a daily record of 438 three days earlier.

Australia's Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said it would take "weeks" to slow the outbreak to levels seen as recently as June, when Victoria and the rest of Australia reported single or double-digit daily infections.

Click here for more. 

Hong Kong reports 73 new COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) reported 73 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 66 locally transmitted infections, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) said on Monday.

There are 27 cases with unknown sources of infection, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the CHP's Communicable Disease Branch, told the media.

Kevin Yeung, secretary for education of HKSAR, announced earlier in the day that kindergartens and international schools in the city will remain closed until mid-August because of the epidemic.

Beijing cleared of COVID-19 medium-risk areas

Beijing on Monday was cleared of medium-risk areas for COVID-19.

The risk level of Huaxiang township in Fengtai District, the only medium-risk area in the city, was downgraded to low.

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Sunday for the 14th consecutive day.

Russia reports almost 6,000 new coronavirus cases

Russia reported 5,940 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, pushing its total infection tally to 777,486, the fourth largest in the world.

In a daily readout, officials said 85 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 12,427.

Last week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that people should wear masks in confined spaces such as shops, and that the government would provide more details in the next few days about what "tools of enforcement" would be used. Johnson made the comments while visiting ambulance staff in central London as part of an announcement to double criminal sentences wherever emergency workers have been assaulted.

A protest was organized by "Keep Britain Free" movement on Sunday against face coverings becoming mandatory. From July 24, face masks will be mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England.

India records highest daily spike of 40,425 new COVID-19 infections

India's health ministry on Monday reported 681 new deaths and 40,425 more COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the number of deaths to 27,497 and total cases to 1,118,043.

It is the highest single-day spike in the number of fresh cases in the country so far.

The Chinese health authority said Monday that its mainland received reports of 22 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday, of which 17 were domestically transmitted in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The Chinese mainland on Sunday recorded five new COVID-19 cases from overseas.

No deaths related to the disease were registered on Sunday, according to the National Health Commission.

Among the 17 newly confirmed cases in Xinjiang, 16 emerged in the regional capital of Urumqi, said Xinjiang's health commission.

As of Sunday, Xinjiang had 47 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 50 asymptomatic cases.

The total number of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland stands at 83,682, the cumulative death toll at 4,634, and 154 asymptomatic patients are under medical observation.

Total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 1,885 (1,294 recoveries, 12 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 455 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Sunday for the 14th day in a row. The total number of cases since a cluster outbreak was discovered at the Xinfadi market on June 11 stands at 335, the municipal health commission said on Monday.

As of Monday afternoon, 231 patients have recovered and discharged, while 12 asymptomatic people are still under medical observation. 

The risk level of Huaxiang township in the Fengtai District, the only medium-risk area in the city, was also downgraded to low. 

Beijing lowered its level of emergency response to COVID-19 from Level II to Level III on Monday, over one month after a local outbreak put the Chinese capital on guard. 

Read more:

Beijing downgrades COVID-19 emergency response level from II to III

Speaking at a daily media briefing on Monday, a senior municipal official said residents should stay vigilant despite the lowering of risk level, and close-off management will still be observed at communities and villages with over five confirmed cases. 

Following the downgrade, Beijing is now orderly reopening cinemas, domestic travel by tourist groups as well as other business with certain anti-coronavirus measures.

Read more:

Chinese cinemas set to reopen with anti-coronavirus measures

Latest COVID-19 updates around the globe

Brazil's COVID-19 death toll raced towards 80,000 on Sunday, after 716 deaths in the past 24 hours pushed the total number to 79,488. The number of people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus reached 2,098,389, after 23,529 new cases were detected in the same period, the health ministry said.

Chile on Sunday reported 2,082 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, bringing the total number of positive cases to 330,930. And 58 more patients died of the disease in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide death toll to 8,503, the Ministry of Health said.

Egypt confirmed on Sunday 603 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total cases registered in the country since mid-February to 87,775, said the Egyptian Health Ministry. Sunday's daily infections marked the lowest since May 19, where 720 new cases were reported.

South Africa's death toll from coronavirus has passed the 5,000 mark, according to official figures. South Africa registered 85 new deaths from the virus in the previous 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 5,033. A total of 13,449 new infections were also officially diagnosed, taking the total number to 364,328, the country's health ministry said.

Turkey's COVID-19 cases increased by 924 to 219,641 on Sunday. Meanwhile, 16 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,491, while 997 patients recovered, raising the total recoveries to 202,010 since the outbreak, according to the country's health minister.

(With input from agencies)

As of Sunday, the number of U.S. COVID-19 cases surpassed 3.7 million with a total death toll of more than 140,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Some U.S. states reported record highs for single-day COVID-19 cases on Saturday, including Georgia and North Carolina.

According to Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, 49 hospitals in the state have no more ICU beds for COVID-19 patients. Five of them are in Broward County where nearly 10,000 new COVID-19 infections have been reported over one week. 

Miami-Dade County, Florida's hardest-hit area, is also over capacity, with 507 admissions to its ICU units that hold 398 beds.

In an interview on CNN's State of the Union, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he thinks some parts of the state reopened too quickly, as California is fighting a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. 

He didn't indicate in the interview if he would like to reissue a stay-at-home order for the city to better contain the virus. Garcetti also said, "I want to be more surgical. I want to go into those factories where we're seeing spread. I want to go into those communities, especially our lower-income communities.”

As U.S. COVID-19 cases keeps growing, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer emphasized the role of the CDC and told CNN on Sunday, "We are going to do everything we can to make sure that the CDC is fully funded in the stimulus package." 

In response to the recent change in U.S. hospital reporting methods for COVID-19 cases, Schumer highlighted the importance of transparency in COVID-19 data.

"For the President, the administration to want to sweep the facts under the rug so they can hide them, it's not gonna work. Whenever the President has tried to avoid the problem, like this will go away, this won't affect many people, it's gotten worse," he said.

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The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 701,573 as of Sunday morning, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC in its latest situation update issued on Sunday morning said that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the continent rose from 683, 905 on Saturday afternoon to 701,573 as of Sunday morning.

The continental disease control and prevention agency also disclosed that the death toll from the pandemic surged to 14,937 as of the stated period.

The Africa CDC further said that 369,120 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have so far recovered from the infectious virus.

Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, the highly affected African countries in terms of positive cases include South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, Morocco, and Cameroon.

The Africa CDC also said that the Southern Africa region is now the most affected area across the continent in terms of positive COVID-19 cases, followed by the North Africa region.

The West Africa region is the third most affected area in terms of positive cases, followed by the Eastern and Central Africa regions, respectively.

People in France will be compelled to wear face-masks in closed public spaces from Monday, a measure to stem the coronavirus transmission in the country.

It was revealed by the country's Health Directorate - Direction générale de la Santé, also knows as DGS - to news agency AFP on Sunday.

Venues concerned include meeting and performance halls, cinemas, restaurants, hotels, game rooms, educational centres, holiday centres, libraries, places of worship, indoor sports venues, museums, stations and airports.

"Stores, shopping centres, administrations, banks and covered markets" have also been added to the list, the DGS said, while masks remain mandatory on public transport too.

President Emmanuel Macron said on July 14 that face-masks would become obligatory from August 1, but the date was quickly brought forward amid concerns expressed by scientists after "slight signs" of a resurgence in the virus.

"The health situation in France (excluding Mayotte and Guyana which are still undergoing the first wave), after several weeks of decline and stabilization of the epidemic, shows signs of a slight deterioration, but still uncertain", the DGS stated, as it urged everyone to be vigilant to avoid an "epidemic rebound".

The date was brought forward also because of worries the virus might spread in the air - a possibility the World Health Organisation did not rule out.

Tianshan and Sayibak districts of Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, raised their COVID-19 risk levels from low to high on Sunday, while three other districts raised their levels to medium.

Xinjiang reported 13 new cases on Saturday, all from Urumqi. The total number of cases in the region reached 106 on Saturday, according to local health authorities.

Urumqi on Sunday finished nucleic acid testing for everyone under centralized or home medical quarantine, said a local health official while advising residents to stay calm. 

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has ordered most of its 180,000 civil servants to work from home from Monday as the city registered a record high of 108 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

The HKSAR government has also decided to extend compulsory mask wearing to cover all public indoor areas, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a press briefing.

The move comes as the financial hub tightened social distancing measures to battle the recent resurgence of local coronavirus infections.

Lam said the government will only provide essential and emergency services, returning to the service level in February.

Hong Kong has registered 1,885 COVID-19 cases as of 5 p.m. local time on Sunday, with 12 deaths.

Beijing will lower its level of emergency response to COVID-19 from Level II to Level III starting Monday, Chen Bei, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing municipal government, announced at a press conference on Sunday.

The announcement comes almost a month after the city raised its COVID-19 emergency response to Level 2 on June 16 as a new cluster related to Xinfadi wholesale market in south Beijing's Fengtai District was reported. 

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases for the 13th day in a row on Saturday. The total number of cases since the cluster outbreak was discovered on June 11 stands at 335, the municipal health commission said on Sunday.

A total of 16 asymptomatic cases are still under medical observation, the health commission said.

Thirteen patients have recently recovered, taking the total number of recoveries to 203. In addition, all serious and critical COVID-19 patients have recovered.

With the downgrading of the emergency response level, Beijing will gradually begin to hold conventions, exhibitions, sports events and performances, according to Chen, adding that cinemas in the city will also be reopened with limitations on the number of visitors. 

Gatherings of up to 500 people will be allowed if they meet the requirements of COVID-19 prevention. 

Parks, tourist attractions, gyms, libraries and museums will also be reopened with limitations on the number of visitors. 

Read more: China to reopen cinemas in low-risk areas from July 20

 India COVID-19 cases hit record daily high, new cases stand at 38,902

India on Sunday reported 38,902 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, bringing its nationwide cases tally to more than 1.07 million, according to local health authorities. 

The number of new cases sets a fresh single-day case record since the outbreak of the pandemic. The country also recorded 543 new fatalities due to COVID-19, pushing its death toll to 26,816.

As for now, India has the third highest number of infections worldwide, behind the U.S. and Brazil, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

(Cover: CFP) 

Fauci: Racial disparities during pandemic 'very disturbing'

The leading U.S. expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Thursday expressed concerns about the racial disparities that have opened up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a live chat with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Fauci noted the higher infection and death rates of COVID-19 among minority communities, calling it a "very disturbing phenomenon."

The expert told Zuckerberg that African Americans, Latinx, Native Americans and Alaskan Americans tend to have jobs that don't allow them to work remotely, putting them at greater risk of getting infected.

Click here for more. 

U.S. COVID-19 deaths top 140,000

COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have surpassed 140,103 as of 8:50 p.m. local time on Saturday, with over 3,707,023 confirmed cases, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Saturday for the 13th day in a row. The total number of cases since a cluster outbreak was discovered at the Xinfadi market on June 11 stands at 335, the municipal health commission said on Sunday.

A total of 16 asymptomatic people are still under medical observation, the health commission said.

Thirteen patients have recovered, taking the total to 203. All severe and critical COVID-19 patients in the city have recovered to normal conditions.

A total of 16 new COVID-19 cases were registered on the Chinese mainland Saturday, of which 13 were cases of domestic transmissions, the Chinese health authority said Sunday.

The 13 domestically transmitted cases were reported in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the National Health Commission said in its daily report. As of Saturday, a total of 30 cases were reported in Xinjiang. 

No deaths related to the disease were reported on the Chinese mainland on Saturday.

The commission said 17 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery on the Chinese mainland Saturday, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 78,775.

The total number of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland stands at 83,660 and the cumulative death toll at 4,634, with 147 asymptomatic patients under medical observation.

Total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 1,777 (1,274 recoveries, 12 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 454 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)

Trump administration pushing to block new money for CDC

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is trying to block billions of dollars to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with money for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill, Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier the coronavirus-response bill will be unveiled in the coming week as part of negotiations with Democrats.

As of 6:36 p.m. local time on Saturday, the U.S. has reported 3,697,554 confirmed cases with 139,949 deaths.

Meanwhile, the CDC updated its guidance for people who are isolating at home with COVID-19 to prevent transmission of the virus.

French to enforce mask-wearing in banks and shops from July 20

France will enforce mask-wearing in enclosed public spaces including banks, shops and indoor markets from July 20, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Saturday, as part of efforts to curb a resurgence of COVID-19 across the country.

The government has accelerated plans to make it compulsory to wear masks after a series of indicators have suggested the virus could be gaining momentum, especially in areas in western and southern France that had been relatively spared during the height of the outbreak between March and May.

"From Monday, mask-wearing will be mandatory in closed spaces," Veran said on Twitter. "That concerns shops, buildings open to the public, covered markets and banks."

HK to conduct deep disinfection of 12 Kowloon wet markets

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government will arrange for 12 markets located in Kowloon to close early for deep cleaning and disinfection in batches as some of the recently confirmed COVID-19 cases were linked to markets, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said in a statement on Saturday.

During the period, FEHD staff will thoroughly clean and disinfect communal areas and facilities in the markets. They have called on the cooperation of market tenants of the 12 markets to conduct cleaning and disinfection of their respective stalls, with a view to improving the overall hygienic condition of the markets.

In addition, the two markets which linked to the confirmed cases were closed early on Friday for deep cleansing and disinfection, the FEHD added.

A total of 21 medics from three hospitals in Wuhan City arrived in Urumqi, NW China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to help in COVID-19 screening. The city has declared a "wartime mode" as all local residential communities have been put under "sealed-off management" after the first case in 150 days was reported in Urumqi, with 17 cases confirmed as of July 18.

Reporter's Diary: Facing COVID-19 again, this time in Xinjiang

A new cluster of COVID-19 cases in Urumqi scrambled our journey west exploring the beauty of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

As we landed in Urumqi, push notifications started to buzz through my phone – the city saw its first confirmed COVID-19 case once again in almost 150 days since late February.

EU summit enters second day with new recovery plan on table

European Council President Charles Michel offered a revised plan for the EU's proposed economic recovery fund on Saturday to break a deadlock between the bloc's 27 leaders on the second day of a summit in Brussels, according to a document, diplomats and officials.

To assuage concerns by the northern camp of thrifty EU countries led by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the share of free grants in the proposed 750 billion euro recovery fund would be reduced to 450 billion euros from 500 billion.

This, along with plans for an "emergency brake" on disbursement of funds, would appease wealthy northern states who want conditions attached to grants and would prefer to see those countries worst affected by the coronavirus crisis take loans.

The proposal would also increase rebates on the core EU budget for Austria, Denmark and Sweden.

The leaders of the EU held their first face-to-face summit in five months Friday in the largest room they could find at their summit center so they can keep apart as a health precaution. But it wasn't the only way in which they are far apart – they are also a long way from one another on the subject of the meeting: Plans for an unprecedented 1.85 trillion euro (2.1 trillion U.S. dollars) EU budget and recovery fund.

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UK pauses daily coronavirus deaths update for urgent review

The UK government on Saturday said it was pausing the publication of daily coronavirus deaths after health secretary Matt Hancock ordered an urgent review into how Public Health England calculates the figures.

"Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between time of testing and date of death. There have been claims that the lack of cut-off may distort the current daily deaths number," he said on the government's website.

There have been 40,528 deaths linked to the virus in England.

Rouhani says 25 million Iranians infected with COVID-19

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that 25 million Iranians have been infected with the coronavirus and that another 35 million are at risk of getting infected.

Iran, with a population of more than 80 million, has been the worst hit Middle East country in the pandemic. "Our estimate is that as of now 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus and about 14,000 have lost their dear lives," Rouhani said in the speech.

"There is the possibility that between 30 and 35 million other people will be at risk," he said, adding that "In total, more than 200,000 people have been hospitalized."

The Health Ministry reported a total of 271,606 confirmed cases with 13,979 deaths as of Saturday.

Hong Kong reports 64 new COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Saturday reported 64 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, including 60 locally transmitted casesly, the region's health officials said.

Health authorities said 25 new local transmitted cases linked to previously confirmed cases and urged people to avoid going out and attend social such activities as dinners or gatherings to reduce exposure to infected persons who do not show symptoms.

The HKSAR has so far registered a total of 1,713 COVID-19 cases, with 11 fatalities.

Two more U.S. military personnel test positive for coronavirus in Japan

Two more U.S. military personnel based on the Japanese island of Okinawa have tested positive for coronavirus, Okinawa Prefecture announced on Saturday.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among U.S. military service members and their dependents has now risen to 143.

On Friday, Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono called on the U.S. to conduct coronavirus testing on all U.S. military personnel coming to Japan.

"With so many asymptomatic people, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing is a must," Kono said.

He said the U.S. side is considering the request.

New confirmed COVID-19 cases in Urumqi linked to gathering, city in "wartime mode"

Health authorities in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region said the current COVID-19 outbreak in the region's capital city Urumqi is mainly related to a gathering and the city has entered "wartime mode" for epidemic prevention and control, stopped all kinds of gathering activities and adopted closed management of communities.

Urumqi will carry out free nucleic acid testing throughout the city, first covering key areas and key populations, including the close contacts and their communities, and gradually expanding the testing scope citywide, local health authorities told media on Saturday.

The confirmed cases and asymptomatic infections are all mild or moderate and under medical observation. Xinjiang has recorded a total of 17 confirmed cases and 23 asymptomatic patients as of Saturday.

China's Xinjiang reports 12 new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported 12 new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in the capital Urumqi City between midnight on Friday and noon Beijing time on Saturday, according to local health authorities. All are under concentrated medical observation.

Xinjiang recorded a total of 17 confirmed cases and 23 asymptomatic patients between July 15 and 18.

The authorities said 269 people are currently under medical observation.

Russia reports 6,234 new COVID-19 cases 

Russia on Saturday reported 6,234 new coronavirus infections, bringing the nationwide tally to 765,437. 

Authorities said 124 people have died in the past 24 hours due to COVID-19, raising the official death toll to 12,247.

NHC sends a team to investigate the source of Xinjiang new COVID-19 cases

On Saturday, the National Health Commission (NHC) sent a team of medical experts to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to investigate the source of recent COVID-19 cases in the province. 

Xinjiang reported a total of 17 new cases since Wednesday, after 149 days without any reports. All cases were registered in Urumqi City.

As of Friday, 269 people are under medical observation in the province.  

Trump refuses to consider national mask mandate to curb COVID-19

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not consider a national mandate requiring people to wear masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus. 

Asked in an interview on Fox News to be broadcast on Sunday if he would consider a mandate, Trump said: "No, I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don't believe in that." 

Trump has been reluctant to wear a face mask, with a report in May suggesting that he feared doing so would "send the wrong message" and harm his re-election chances. The U.S. president wore a mask in public for the first time last week. 

The number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has risen to over 3.6 million, and the death toll has surpassed 139,000. Both numbers are the largest in the world. Health authorities reported 78,000 new cases across the country on Thursday, according to the database run by Johns Hopkins University. 

Nevertheless, Trump has urged a return to normal, stressing the importance of reigniting the economy. He has also made reopening public schools a focus of his re-election campaign, urging school districts to offer a full schedule of classes. 

According to a CNN report on Friday, the White House is blocking U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield and other officials from the agency from testifying before a House Education and Labor Committee hearing on reopening schools next week. 

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'To be, or not to be?' – UK's theater industry faces difficult recovery

"To be, or not to be?" – the famous line in Shakespeare's classic play "Hamlet" has become a real dilemma faced by the British theater industry. As the entertainment industry adopted the government's guidance aimed at trying to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, British cinema chains, theaters and art venues have closed their doors since March.  

The pandemic prompts major British theaters to close doors

Some of London's most popular performance spaces, including the O2 arena, the Royal Opera House, Shakespeare's Globe and National theaters as well as the nearly 150-year old Royal Albert Hall brought their curtains down – theaters saw their income vanish overnight when they locked down. 

"We're not a sector with lower income, we're a sector with no income," Julian Bird, chief executive of Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theater told the Financial Times. Bird also added that by the end of the year, 70 percent of theaters will run out of cash, including larger venues.

Click here for more.

A total of 22 new COVID-19 cases were registered on the Chinese mainland Friday, of which 16 were cases of domestic transmissions, the Chinese health authority said Saturday.

The 16 domestically transmitted cases were reported in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the National Health Commission said in its daily report. As of Friday, a total of 17 confirmed cases have been reported in the region, all in Urumqi City. 269 people are under medical observation in the province.

No deaths related to the disease were reported on Friday on the Chinese mainland on Friday. 

The commission said 21 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery on the Chinese mainland Friday, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 78,758.

The total number of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland stands at 83,644 and the cumulative death toll at 4,634, with 109 asymptomatic patients under medical observation.

Total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 1,713 (1,264 recoveries, 11 deaths)

Macao: 46 (46 recoveries)

Taiwan: 454 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)

CGTN's reporters Zhao Yunfei, Hu Chao and Xu Xinchen have arrived in Xinjiang and will bring us the latest reports. Stay tuned.

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Friday for the 12th day in a row. The total number of cases since a cluster outbreak was discovered at the Xinfadi market on June 11 stands at 335, the municipal health commission said on Friday.

One new asymptomatic case was reported on Friday. A total of 18 asymptomatic people are still under medical observation, the health commission said.

Thirteen patients have recovered, taking the total to 190. All severe and critical COVID-19 patients in the city have recovered to normal conditions.

As of Saturday, only one area in Beijing remains at a medium risk level of coronavirus transmission, as all other areas in the city are now at low-risk of COVID-19, said Gao Xiaojun, spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, at a press conference.

"Beijing has basically cut off the coronavirus transmission from the Xinfadi market cluster outbreak in about a month," Li Sufang, deputy director of the city's development and reform commission, told reporters.

As the recent coronavirus outbreak eases in Beijing, the city will move forward with plans to reopen theaters, cinemas, and business sites providing internet access services, Li said.

She added that the work-resumption rate among enterprises in Beijing has come to the level reported in early June prior to the Xinfadi market's cluster infections. 

China's civil aviation regulator said on Friday that Japan Airlines, Lao Airlines, and Hainan Airlines are allowed to increase their number of international flights because of their effective COVID-19 control measures.

Flights JL829/0 between Tokyo and Dalian, flights QV815/6 between Vientiane and Kunming, flights HU491/2 between Beijing and Brussels, and flights HU7975/6 between Beijing and Toronto are the second group of "rewarded flights" following the introduction of a reward-and-suspension system by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on June 4.

The number of these round trip flights can be increased from one to two per week until October 24, according to the CAAC.

Japan Airlines and Lao Airlines are the first two foreign airlines to be rewarded.

According to the CAAC policy, if all inbound passengers test negative for novel coronavirus for three weeks in a row, the airline will be allowed to increase the number of flights to two per week.

If the number of passengers testing positive reaches five, the airline's flights will be suspended for a week. The suspension will last four weeks if the number of passengers testing positive reaches 10.

The measure to resume some international passenger flights aims to balance epidemic control with economic and social development, said the CAAC.

(Cover image: Aircrafts stop at Urumqi Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 16, 2020. /VCG)

Latest on COVID-19 development around the world

Brazil: The COVID-19 outbreak in hard-hit Brazil has plateaued, the World Health Organization said Friday, urging the country to seize the opportunity to drive down transmissions. Brazil registered 34,177 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 1,163 new deaths on Friday. Total cases in Brazil have now risen to 2,046,328 while deaths to 76,688.

Chile: The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country has risen to 326,539, with 8,347 deaths. 98 new deaths and 2,840 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours.

Iran, which has re-emerged as the hardest-hit country in the Middle East region, reported 2,379 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 269,440. The pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 13,791 Iranians, up by 183 in the past 24 hours. A total of 232,873 coronavirus patients have recovered, with 3,509 still in critical condition.

Argentina: The Argentine government announced on Friday that it has extended the national quarantine aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 to August 2. Argentina reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 3 and as of Friday, the country has reported 114,783 cases, with 2,133 deaths. 

Spain: In the last 24 hours, 628 new cases have been confirmed, of which 252 in Aragon and 121 in Catalonia. As of Friday, 28,420 people had lost their lives to COVID-19 in Spain. The number of those infected reached 260,255, and 150,376 people have recovered.

Egypt registered on Friday 703 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country since mid-February to 86,474, said the health ministry. The death toll from the respiratory disease has reached 4,188 after 68 patients died in the past 24 hours, while  611 patients were cured and discharged from hospitals, taking the total recoveries to 27,302.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 327 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 47,453. Of the new cases, three are imported cases, nine are community cases and the rest are linked with dormitories of foreign workers. Altogether 27 people have died from COVID-19.

Global COVID-19 cases exceed 14 million  

Confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 14,037,021 globally on Saturday, with 600,665 fatalities and more than 7.8 million recoveries, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.

The World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom on Friday called upon the world not to focus entirely on COVID-19 at the expense of other crises battering the world.

"Many countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East, are still reeling from years of conflict and other humanitarian crises. COVID-19 threatens to exacerbate many of these crises," he said in a media briefing on Friday.

Noting that the pandemic had affected over 200 million people globally, Tedros warned that up to 132 million people may go hungry in 2020 due to the impact lockdowns and restrictions imposed in efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"The pandemic, and the restrictions put in place to suppress it, are taking a heavy toll on 220 million people in protracted emergencies," he said.

Since its outbreak, the pandemic has disrupted many aspects of life, including education, travel, agriculture and more.

Many countries around the world have projected slumps in their economies as the pandemic continues to batter their borders.

Governments have been forced to re-focus funds towards the fight against COVID-19, leaving other sectors ailing.

In his address n Friday, Tedros urgd countries to strengthen their health systems to better tackle any future crises.

"The pandemic is teaching us that health is not a luxury item; it's the foundation of social, economic and political stability," he said.

COVID-19: Food is abundant, prices remain regular in Urumqi

Food is abundant and the price of products remains regular in Urumqi, the manager of Xinlian market, a major market in the city, told CGTN on Friday as at least six locally transmitted cases were found.

The market, which has over 2,800 vendors, provides nearly two-thirds of food and vegetable supplies across Urumqi City.

Click here to see what CGTN reporter Zhao Yunfei learnt in Xinlian market and how daily supplies were secured under the new restrictions.

Japan urges U.S. military to take virus tests prior to arrival

Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono said on Friday that he has called on the United States to conduct coronavirus testing on all U.S. military personnel coming to Japan after outbreaks of the virus hit U.S. bases in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

Kono told a press briefing on the matter that the defense ministry has requested that U.S. military personnel bound for Japan take one test prior to leaving the United States and one upon arrival in Japan.

"With so many asymptomatic people, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing is a must," Kono said, adding that tests needed to be carried out, without exception, on military personnel before leaving the United States and coming to Japan.

Kono said the U.S. side has said it is considering the request.

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UK to review potentially faulty England COVID-19 death data

Health Minister Matt Hancock ordered a review into how England reports coronavirus deaths, after academics said the daily figures may include people who have died of other causes.

The way Public Health England, a government agency responsible for managing infectious disease outbreaks, calculates the figures means they might look worse there than in other parts of the United Kingdom, according to two academics. 

Britain has been the European country worst hit by the virus, with an official death toll of more 45,000. But the government has said international comparisons are misleading because countries record coronavirus deaths differently.

Yoon Loke, from the University of East Anglia, and Carl Heneghan, from the University of Oxford, said Public Health England cross-checks the latest notifications of deaths against a database of positive test results – so anyone who has tested positive can be recorded as dying from the virus.

"Matt Hancock is going to be doing a review of those statistics with Public Health England," Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a media conference on Friday.

In a blog called "Why no-one can recover from COVID-19 in England", the academics said that patients who tested positive for coronavirus, but are successfully treated, will still be counted as dying from the virus "even if they had a heart attack or were run over by a bus three months later."

The academics said this was the reason why England's death figures vary substantially from day to day.

The same approach is not used in other parts of the United Kingdom. In Scotland, there is a 28 day cut-off, after which a patient who has tested positive is not automatically considered to have died from the virus.

Office for National Statistics figures on excess deaths in Britain show more than 64,000 people have died than usual during the coronavirus pandemic. Many health experts focus on those rather than the official COVID-19 toll.

Kyrgyzstan reports 1,654 new COVID-19 cases, total number near 24,000

Kyrgyzstan reported 603 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,051 community-acquired pneumonia cases have been registered in the country in the past 24 hours, bringing total number of confirmed cases to 23,783, the head of the public health care department of the country's Health Ministry Ainura Akmatova said at a regular news briefing.

Meanwhile, the death toll reached 785 since the beginning of the pandemic after 83 more fatalities were added, 77 people from pneumonia and six from COVID-19.

Akmatova explained on Thursday that the country's health ministry decided to take a unified approach in treating COVID-19, thus the statistical cases of community-acquired pneumonia are considered a manifestation of COVID-19.

Kyrgyzstan's neighbor Kazakhstan also reported a jump in pneumonia cases, causing a spike in the numbers.

Read more: WHO believes 'unknown pneumonia' in Kazakhstan could be COVID-19

Spain held a major event in honor of the more than 27,000 deaths caused by COVID-19 in this country on July 16. The state ceremony also served to pay tribute to the public servants who have been on the frontline of the fight against the pandemic for the past three months.

Macao's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases down to zero

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is down to zero in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) as the last patient was discharged from hospital on Friday, according to local health authorities.

No locally transmitted cases have been reported for 110 consecutive days and there have been no imported cases from abroad for 21 consecutive days in Macao SAR. All 46 confirmed cases have recovered and been discharged from the hospital. There has been no community transmission and no medical personnel have been infected, the authorities added.

Hong Kong reports 50 locally transmitted coronavirus cases, officials warn more cases in the coming days

The Hong Kong health department reported 58 confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday afternoon, among which 50 were locally transmitted cases.

So far, the global financial hub has registered over 1,710 infections since the initial outbreak on late January with officials saying they expect more outbreaks in the coming days.

According to health officials, a local bus driver who was on duty on Monday and Tuesday this week was among the list of newly reported patients.

But the driver was wearing mask during work before he developed symptoms on his day off on Wednesday, the New World First Bus (NWFB) said.

Meanwhile, local media later reported the 11th death in Hong Kong, a 71-year-old female who had a chronic illness and was sent to Ruttonjee Hospital on Thursday night after her heart stopped.

She tested positive for the virus in preliminary screenings and passed away Friday afternoon, according to local media.

Due to the surging cases, the annual swim race across Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor was cancelled on Friday.

Russia's coronavirus death toll surpasses 12,000

Russia's death toll from the novel coronavirus surpassed 12,000 on Friday, as the country reported 186 new deaths in the past 24 hours.

The country's coronavirus crisis response center registered 6,406 new cases, bringing its nationwide tally of infections to 759,203, the world's fourth highest caseload.

The death toll now stands at 12,123. Russia says 539,373 people have recovered.

U.S. sets another single-day record with over 77,000 new COVID-19 cases 

The United States broke its single-day record for new coronavirus cases on Thursday with more than 77,000, according to Johns Hopkins University's data.

As of Friday, the country has recorded over 3.5 million infections, leading the world.

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported five new confirmed COVID-19 cases and eight asymptomatic cases in Urumqi City on Friday afternoon, according to local health authorities.

Xinjiang recorded a total of six confirmed cases and 11 asymptomatic patients from July 15 to 17.

The authorities said 135 people are currently under medical observation.

U.S. governors slam Trump government's coronavirus response

Governors for the U.S. states of New York and Maryland slammed President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic Thursday, blaming the federal government's "incompetence."

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. topped 3.5 million on Thursday, with deaths over 137,000, while New York remains the hardest-hit state with 404,775 cases.

Combating the virus requires people coming together and a competent federal government "which we do not have," New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo pointed out.

He made the remark while commenting on a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which pointed out that by the time the travel restrictions on Europe were implemented by the federal government, importation and community transmission of COVID-19 had already occurred in New York.

Click here for more.

COVID-19 cases top 1 million in India, deaths surpass 25,000

The number of COVID-19 cases in India surpassed one million on Friday, as total deaths surpassed 25,000, according to the latest data issued by the health ministry. 

Shenzhen adjusts rules for entry from Hong Kong to battle COVID-19

Visitors from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to the Chinese mainland through ports in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen must carry proof of negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test results within 72 hours and undergo 14 days of medical observation after their arrival, Shenzhen authorities said on Thursday.

These new measures, starting from 10:00 a.m. local time on Friday, were issued in response to a new wave of COVID-19 infections in HKSAR, Shenzhen's command center for prevention and control of COVID-19 said in a notice. It added that the new rules will not apply to some categories of people, including businessmen, drivers and students who had been exempted from entry quarantine.

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday for the 11th day in a row. The total number of cases since a cluster outbreak was discovered at Xinfadi market on June 11 stands at 335, the municipal health commission said on Friday.

An additional 10 patients have recovered, taking the total to 177. 

No asymptomatic cases were reported on Thursday either, though a total of 17 asymptomatic people are still under medical observation, the health commission said.

Xincun Sub-district in Fengtai District adjusted its risk level from medium to low and lowered the total number of medium-risk areas in the city to two – Majiapu Sub-district and Huaxiang Township in Fengtai District. All other regions in Beijing are low-risk.

The authorities said they will strictly prevent cases from overseas, strengthen epidemic prevention at airports and customs offices and implement measures such as quarantine for inbound travelers.

Officials said they will carry out risk screening for frozen food and meat and strengthen the supervision of imported cold chain foods, alongside follow-up disposal work at Xinfadi market. Beijing will also promote the standardized management, transformation and upgrading of markets.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany sparked controversy on Thursday by saying "science should not stand in the way of" reopening schools, even as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on in the United States.

"You know, the president has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open," McEnany said at a daily press briefing. "And when he says open, he means open in full – kids being able to attend each and every day at their school." 

She added: "The science should not stand in the way of this." 

But the press secretary went on to suggest that science is on the side of fully opening schools for the upcoming academic year, citing a pediatric study of 46 hospitals by the Journal of the American Medical Association that she said showed the risk to children posed by COVID-19 is less than that posed by the seasonal flu. 

"The science is on our side here, and we encourage for localities and states to just simply follow the science, open our schools," she said. 

U.S. President Donald Trump has made reopening public schools a focus of his re-election campaign, urging school districts to offer a full schedule of classes. He threatened to cut funding for schools that do not follow through.

McEnany's remark that "science should not stand in the way of" schools reopening was picked up by CNN, The Washington Post and other media outlets, causing a heated discussion on Twitter.  

McEnany later blasted coverage of her comments as a "case study in media bias." 

"I said: 'The science is very clear on this... the science is on our side here. We encourage our localities & states to just simply follow the science. Open our schools,'" she tweeted. "But leave it to the media to deceptively suggest I was making the opposite point!"

According to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, only one in four Americans thinks it is safe for public schools to reopen this fall as U.S. coronavirus cases continue to climb, and four in 10 parents said they would likely keep their children home if classes resume. 

The July 14-15 national online poll was conducted as the country's 13,000 school districts grapple with how to safely resume instruction after closing in the spring as infections spread. 

Just 26 percent of American adults said they thought it was safe for schools in their community to bring students back. Another 55 percent felt they were not safe, and 19 percent were not sure. 

The response was split along party lines: Half of Republicans said they thought schools were safe, compared with only one in 10 Democrats. 

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who for months has led Trump in national polls, including a 10-point advantage among registered voters in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, has called for a more cautious approach to re-opening schools. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also a Democrat, expressed a similar view. "The president and his administration are messing with the health of our children," she said on Sunday. "We all want our children to go back to school. Teachers do. Parents do. And children do. But they must go back safely." 

The number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has risen to over 3.56 million and the death toll has surpassed 138,000. 

(With input from Reuters) 

(Cover: White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 16, 2020. /AP)

Ten new COVID-19 cases were recorded on the Chinese mainland on Thursday, nine from overseas, and one local transmission in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The Chinese health authorities added that there were no new deaths on Thursday.

The total number of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland stands at 83,622, and the cumulative death toll at 4,634, with 104 asymptomatic patients under medical observation.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 1,655 (1,254 recoveries, ten deaths)

Macao: 46 (45 recoveries)

Taiwan: 452 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)

Fauci: Younger generation is driving the new surge of coronavirus in U.S.

Anthony Fauci, top U.S. infectious disease expert, on Thursday said the younger generation in the U.S. is driving the new surge of coronavirus and warned young people should not feel like they are immune to serious infection.

"You look at what's going on with the new infections – the age range of the infection. The median age is about a decade and a half younger today than it was a few months ago", CNN reported, citing Dr. Fauci.

"Young people are intimately and heavily involved in what's going on now with this pandemic", Fauci noted.

As of Thursday evening, the U.S. has recorded more than 3.56 millions cases of COVID-19 with 138,201 deaths nationwide, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University. 

(Cover: AP file photo) 

COVID-19 cases in Brazil top 2 mln

The Brazilian government reported on Thursday that the country has registered over two million COVID-19 cases after 45,403 new cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours, for a total of 2,012,151.

According to the country's Ministry of Health, 1,322 deaths were recorded in the past 24-hour period, bringing the total to 76,688.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in the country, has been the worst hit by the virus, with 402,048 cases and 19,038 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 134,573 cases and 11,849 deaths, and Ceara, with 144,000 cases and 7,127 deaths.

Brazil has seen the world's second-largest outbreak, after the United States, in terms of both the caseload and death toll.

India reinstated lockdown measures across several states Thursday as coronavirus cases neared 1 million.

The countryside is seeing an especially strong spike in infections.

The surge is attributed in part to thousands of migrant workers returning from cities following the initial lockdown.

Police are on the streets to enforce restrictions.

Another 1.3 million U.S. workers file for unemployment benefits

Another 1.3 million Americans filed for jobless claims for the week ending July 11, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The number is higher than the estimated 1.25 million given by economists.

14 more Americans with USFK test positive for coronavirus in S Korea

Fourteen more U.S. soldiers and their family members tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in South Korea between July 9 and 15, the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday.

The total number of infections among USFK-affiliated personnel has now risen to 88, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The USFK said of the 14 new patients, 12 were service members and two were dependents. Nine of them were asymptomatic, while the other five displayed minor symptoms, such as a headache or runny nose.

All 14 individuals have been transferred to a designated isolation facility on either Camp Humphreys or Osan Air Base, both in Pyeongtaek.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among U.S. army personnel on the Japanese island of Okinawa has risen to 138.

Okinawa has registered just 148 coronavirus infections since February, excluding the American cases.

Hong Kong reports record high of 67 new COVID-19 cases

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Thursday reported 67 new cases of COVID-19, the largest daily increase in the region since January.

Health authorities said 63 new cases were locally transmitted following the recent resurgence of infections in the financial hub, while the other four are from overseas.

The HKSAR has so far registered a total of 1,655 COVID-19 cases, with 10 fatalities.

Russia reports 6,428 new COVID-19 cases, total cases exceed 750,000

Russia reported 6,428 new COVID-19 cases with 167 new deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 752,797, making it the fourth worst-hit country in the world. The country's death toll is now at 11,937, official data showed on Thursday. 

Latest on COVID-19 development around the world

Australia has reported 327 new coronavirus cases, bringing total number to nearly 11,000, including 113 deaths. The government is injecting a further 1.5 billion Australian dollars (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) into a wage subsidy program to counter rising unemployment.

Germany's total number of confirmed cases increased by 534 to 200,260, and the reported death toll rose by seven to 9,078.

India recorded 606 new deaths and 32,695 more cases in the past 24 hours, marking the highest single day spike in the number of fresh cases in the country, taking the death toll to 24,915 and total cases to 968,876.

Pakistan reported 2,145 new cases with 40 new deaths, raising total number of confirmed cases to 257,911 and death toll to 5,426.

Israel confirmed 520 new cases and one more death in the last 24 hours, totaling to 44,188 with 376 deaths. A total of 19,989 people have recovered and 204 patients are in a critical condition.

Fauci calls White House criticism of him 'bizarre' 

After days of attacks from Trump aides, U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci on Wednesday called the White House effort to discredit him "bizarre" and urged an end to the divisiveness over the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying "let's stop this nonsense" and focus on the virus. 

"I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that," Fauci said when asked about the stepped-up attacks, in an interview with The Atlantic on Wednesday. 

Also on Wednesday, President Donald Trump's top trade advisor, Peter Navarro, described Fauci as "wrong about everything" in an op-ed article in USA Today. On Sunday, Dan Scavino, another Trump's close adviser, posted on Facebook a rendering that likened him to a faucet drowning Uncle Sam. 

The attempt to discredit Fauci's public health expertise is a political move, Peter Nicholas, a staff writer at The Atlantic, said. Fauci is "a recurring reminder" that the pandemic still remains an enduring threat as Trump wants people to believe the virus is being brought under control. 

Responding to the criticism, Fauci told the Atlantic: "I can't explain Peter Navarro. He's in a world by himself. So I don't even want to go there.”

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First deputy governor of Turkestan state in Kazakhstan died of COVID-19

The first deputy governor of the Turkestan region, Kosman Aitmukhambetov, died of COVID-19 at the age of 57 on Wednesday, local media reported citing officials.

Kazakhstan reported 1,674 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 65,188 and the death toll to 375, according to the country's official data on Thursday.

Beijing has tested 11.88 million people for COVID-19 from June 11 to July 14, accounting for half of the city's resident population. The Chinese capital responded swiftly after the first case in a cluster outbreak was reported on June 11. Through nucleic acid test screening Beijing has detected 53.8 percent of the COVID-19 cases, which played a huge part in getting the outbreak effectively contained.

China to reopen cinemas in low-risk areas for COVID-19 from July 20

Cinemas in China can reopen from July 20 in areas deemed as low risk for COVID-19, the China Film Administration said on Thursday.

The reopening will be subject to the implementation of prevention and control measures, the agency added.

Cinemas in high- and medium-risk areas will remain shut for now.

China's Q2 GDP growth recovers to 3.2% after steep slump, beats forecast

China's economy returned to modest growth in the second quarter of 2020 and reverted from the first contraction on record in the first quarter this year, as COVID-19 eases and policymakers announced economic packages, official data showed Thursday.

The world's second-largest economy grew by 3.2 percent in April-June from a year earlier, reversing a 6.8-percent decline in the first quarter – the first contraction since at least 1992 when official quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) records started, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics. In the first half of 2020, China's economy declined by 1.6 percent year on year.

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Coronavirus found on shrimp packaging from Ecuador in SW China's Yunnan

The coronavirus has been found on packages of frozen shrimp imported from Ecuador in southwest China's Yunnan Province, local health authorities report on Thursday.

The nucleic acid tests showed positive on some imported Ecuadorian shrimp's packages, the authorities said, adding that no positive nucleic acid test was found on shrimp bodies and their contacts.

The province has temporarily suspended the purchase of seafood from Ecuador, and all frozen imported shrimp produced by the three Ecuadorean enterprises found in the inspection has been removed from the markets and sealed up. Relevant contacts have also been quarantined for observation.

As for now, all relevant personnel has been isolated, and products have been sealed off.

The Chinese mainland on Wednesday recorded one new COVID-19 case from overseas, but no new domestic cases or deaths.

The total number of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland stands at 83,612 and the cumulative death toll at 4,634, with 104 asymptomatic patients under medical observation.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 1,588 (1,241 recoveries, 10 deaths)

Macao: 46 (45 recoveries)

Taiwan: 451 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)

Beijing reports no new COVID-19 cases for 10 straight days

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Wednesday for the 10th day in a row. The total number of cases stands at 335 since a cluster outbreak was discovered at Xinfadi market on June 11, the municipal health commission said on Thursday.

An additional 23 patients have recovered, taking the total to 167. 

No asymptomatic cases were reported on Wednesday either, though a total of 17 asymptomatic people are still under medical observation, the municipal health commission added.

The Chinese capital has four regions labelled as medium risk for COVID-19, all located in the Fengtai District.

American Airlines is notifying 25,000 workers that they could be furloughed beginning October 1, executives said Wednesday, the latest major carrier to warn about massive layoffs.

Although the number of layoffs may be minimized through voluntary departures, American will have more than 20,000 excess workers on payroll due to a profound downturn in business caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Executive Doug Parker and President Robert Isom said in a memo to employees.

Like other major airlines, the executives said the cost-cutting would be needed due to lackluster ticket sales amid fading hopes for a speedy bounce-back in travel from COVID-19.

"With infection rates increasing and several states reestablishing quarantine restrictions, demand for air travel is slowing again," they said.

U.S. carriers that received government aid under the CARES Act cannot lay off workers until after September 30.

American's layoff notices went to 2,500 pilots, 9,500 flight attendants, 3,200 maintenance staff and 1,000 reservations agents.

The executives said they "hope to reduce the actual number of furloughs significantly through enhanced leave and early-out programs for represented workgroups, which we are announcing today."

American's announcement is similar to one from United Airlines last week that warned of as many as 36,000 layoffs. Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines also signaled they may have to cut jobs if voluntary programs do not achieve enough savings.

Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian said Tuesday that 17,000 employees had agreed to voluntary departures and he hoped more workers would step forward, "minimizing, if not eliminating, the need for involuntary furloughs."

(Cover image: American Airlines 737 Max passenger planes are parked on the tarmac at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S., March 23, 2020. /Reuters)

Brazil coronavirus cases close to 2 mln mark, president tests positive again

Brazil on Wednesday reported 39,924 new coronavirus cases in a day as its total tally inched closer to 2 million, the health ministry said.

Brazil has 1,966,748 confirmed cases and 75,366 deaths, 1,233 more than on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told reporters that he has again tested positive for coronavirus, suggesting he has yet to recover from an infection first diagnosed last week.

Bolsonaro underwent a new test on Tuesday. He said that he is in good health and he will resume his normal work schedule if he tests negative this week.

(With input from agencies)

A spike in COVID-19 cases across California has led the governor to take more drastic actions, closing indoor operations just four months after California became the first U.S. state to order its citizens to stay home. The move comes as many businesses were just starting to open.

CGTN's Mark Niu has more.

U.S. base in Japan confirms 36 more COVID-19 cases, locals wary

Authorities have confirmed 36 more coronavirus infections at Camp Hansen on Japan's Okinawa, taking to 136 the tally at U.S. military bases on the island while potentially putting more strains on the relations between the U.S. Marine Corps and the local government. 

The outbreak inside the U.S. installations emerged over the weekend, with dozens of confirmed cases reported by the U.S. Marine Corps, which has about 20,000 troops stationed on the island. 

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Disneyland Paris reopened on July 15 after a four-month closure due to COVID-19, but with face masks and social distancing required.

A steady stream of visitors trickled in during the morning, with one group wearing Mickey Mouse ears and dancing with glee as they entered Europe's most visited theme park.

Reinforced hygiene measures have been put in place. With a daily limited capacity, visitors were told to keep one meter away from others, while hundreds of sanitizing and hand-washing stations are now scattered around the park.

Advance booking is required for entry so there is no ticket sold at the entrance. Rides on which it is difficult to maintain social distancing are off limits, and playgrounds and make-up workshops are also closed for now.

Walt Disney also reopened another of its theme park in Florida, U.S., earlier this month despite a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Disneyland closed once again from Wednesday due to rising COVID-19 cases in the city.

Coronavirus found on shrimp packaging from Ecuador in SW China's Chongqing

The coronavirus has been found on packages of frozen shrimp imported from Ecuador in Shapingba District in southwest China's Chongqing municipality, according to local media reports on Wednesday.

The nucleic acid tests showed positive results on some imported Ecuadorian shrimp's packages in a warehouse in the city's western logistics park, the reports said.

As for now, all relevant personnel have been isolated and products have been sealed off. 

The Ecuadorian embassy in China said Wednesday on Weibo that the Ecuadorian side will carry out necessary procedures to ensure the safety of its exported products to international markets.

China suspends Bangkok-Guangzhou, Bangkok-Tianjin flights over COVID-19 cases

China's civil aviation regulator said on Tuesday that two Thai airlines flights from Thailand's Bangkok to China's Guangzhou and Bangkok to China's Tianjin would be suspended after a total of 11 passengers on the two flights from Thailand tested positive for COVID-19.

The suspension of flight SL117 and flight XJ808 will last for one week respectively, starting on July 20, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Hong Kong reports 19 new COVID-19 cases

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Wednesday reported 19 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 14 local infections, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Communicable Disease Branch of Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection, said at a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon.

Life has become more sedentary than ever since the coronavirus outbreak. Gyms and dance studios have shut their doors, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't work out. 

If you've been spending more time on the sofa, it's time to shake things up.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday urged all Americans to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"Cloth face coverings are one of the most powerful weapons we have to slow and stop the spread of the virus, particularly when used universally within a community setting. All Americans have a responsibility to protect themselves, their families and their communities," CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement.

CDC's appeal came days after U.S. President Donald Trump wore a mask publicly for the first time when visiting a hospital in Maryland.

For months, Trump and some senior administration officials have been criticized for being reluctant to advise the public to wear masks.

Redfield said Tuesday the president and vice president need to wear masks to set an example for the public.

Trump indeed wore a face mask in public for the first time during a visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on Saturday.

He has been refusing to wear a mask himself since the pandemic broke out, citing his good health and frequent negative tests for the virus. 

"Glad to see the president wear a mask this week and the vice president, and clearly in their situation they could easily justify that they don't need to because of all the testing around them and they know they're not infected," Redfield said during an interview with JAMA. 

"But we need them to set the example, as you said, for other individuals."

According to a new Hill-HarrisX poll, 44 percent of voters said people were less likely to wear masks when Trump had not set an example by wearing a mask to lower the spread of COVID-19.

(With input from Xinhua)

Latest COVID-19 developments around the world

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday urged all Americans to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The number of cases in the United States surpassed 3.4 million on Tuesday, hitting 3,431,574, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 136,466, according to the CSSE.

Mexico proposed to the U.S. extending a ban on non-essential travel by land over their shared border for another 30 days considering the development of the coronavirus pandemic. It on Tuesday reported 7,051 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 836 more fatalities, bringing the totals to 311,486 and 36,327 respectively. The government said the real number of infected people is likely to be significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

India's federal health ministry said Wednesday that 582 more deaths due to COVID-19, besides fresh 29,429 positive cases, were reported during the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the total to 936,181.

Egypt on Tuesday confirmed 929 more infections, raising the total cases to 83,930, said Egyptian Health Ministry. It is the fifth consecutive day for the country's daily COVID-19 infections to fall below 1,000 since May 28. The 73 more death has lifted the toll to 4,008.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 1,728 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number to 42,360. The death toll increased from 365 to 371, while the number of serious patients remained unchanged at 183, out of 529 patients currently hospitalized.

36 more COVID-19 cases reported at U.S. base on Japan's Okinawa: Kyodo

Authorities have confirmed 36 more novel coronavirus infections at Camp Hansen on Japan's Okinawa, taking to 136 the tally at U.S. military bases on the island, Kyodo News said on Wednesday.

The outbreak emerged at the weekend, provoking the anger of the prefecture's governor, who has called into question the U.S. military's virus prevention measures.

Previous media reports said the U.S. troops have taken part in parties in downtown areas and beaches around July 4 to celebrate Independence Day.

In fear of the military outbreak spread to the southern island prefecture, Okinawa officials have urged the U.S. to take steps to prevent the spread.

Earlier on Tuesday, Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono said the outbreak of coronavirus cases at U.S. military bases in Japan is "extremely serious." 

(With input from Reuters)

Philippines' public works secretary tests positive for coronavirus

Philippine Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said on Wednesday he had tested positive for the new coronavirus.

"I regret to announce that today, July 15, I received my test result and it is positive for COVID-19," he said in a Facebook post.

Villar is the third known senior official in the country to have contracted the virus following Education Secretary Leonor Briones and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año.

First U.S. coronavirus tests safe, induces immune response

Moderna Inc's experimental vaccine for COVID-19 showed it was safe and provoked immune responses in all 45 healthy volunteers in an ongoing early-stage study, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

Volunteers who got two doses of the vaccine had high levels of virus-killing antibodies that exceeded the average levels seen in people who had recovered from COVID-19, the team reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

No study volunteers experienced a serious side effect, but more than half reported mild or moderate reactions such as fatigue, headache, chills, muscle aches or pain at the injection site. These were more likely to occur after the second dose and in people who got the highest dose.

Moderna was the first to start human testing of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus on March 16, 66 days after the genetic sequence of the virus was released.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose researchers developed Moderna's vaccine candidate, called the results "good news," noting that the study found no serious adverse events and the vaccine produced "reasonably high" levels of virus-killing or neutralizing antibodies.

"If your vaccine can induce a response comparable with natural infection, that's a winner," Fauci said in a telephone interview. "That's why we're very pleased by the results."

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Coronavirus found on shrimp packaging from Ecuador in E China's Jiangxi

The coronavirus has been found on packages and the inner wall of a container of frozen shrimp imported from Ecuador in Pingxiang City, east China's Jiangxi Province, the municipal government said on Tuesday. 

According to a notice issued by the government on its social media platform, no abnormal situation has been found in the city so far.

It said the shrimp packages that tested positive were purchased via an online platform from a local supermarket, and all relevant people, including the customers and deliverymen, have been isolated, the stores have been disinfected and products have been sealed off.

The Pingxiang government said it will also conduct nucleic acid tests on people who have contacted the products.

It's the second time China has found the virus on shrimp packaging from Ecuador.

Last Friday, China Customs announced the finding at a press conference, adding, however, tests on the shrimp bodies and inner packages showed negative results.

Read more:

Coronavirus found on shrimp packaging from Ecuador, China suspends imports from 23 meat companies

Beijing reports no new COVID-19 cases for ninth straight day

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Tuesday for the ninth day in a row. The Chinese capital's total number of cases stands at 335 since a cluster outbreak was discovered at its Xinfadi wholesale market on June 11, the municipal health commission said on Wednesday.

An additional 14 patients recovered on Tuesday, taking the total number of recoveries from the local cluster to 144.

The health mission also reported no new asymptomatic cases in the past 24 hours, adding that the existing 18 asymptomatic people are still under medical observation. 

The Chinese mainland on Tuesday recorded six new COVID-19 cases from overseas, but no new domestic cases or deaths.

The total number of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland stands at 83,611 and the cumulative death toll at 4,634, with 110 asymptomatic patients under medical observation.

The total confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 1,569 (1,229 recoveries, eight deaths)

Macao: 46 (45 recoveries)

Taiwan: 451 (440 recoveries, seven deaths)

Tokyo raises coronavirus alert to highest level

Tokyo will lift its alert level for coronavirus infections to the highest of four levels on Wednesday, the Asahi newspaper reported, after a recent spike in cases to record levels in the Japanese capital.

Daily coronavirus cases exceeded 200 in four of the last six days, touching an all-time high of 243 cases last Friday as testing among workers in the metropolis's red-light districts turned up infections among young people in their 20s and 30s.

The highest alert level suggests that "coronavirus infections are likely spreading," the Asahi said.

Brazil coronavirus cases rise past 1.9 million, deaths total 74,133

Brazil recorded 41,857 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 1,300 additional deaths, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The nation has now registered 1,926,824 total confirmed cases of the virus and 74,133 deaths.

Trump administration rescinds rule on international students

The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer schools or leave the country if their colleges hold classes entirely online this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the decision as a court hearing was getting underway on a challenge to the rule by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The suit argued that the policy was created unlawfully and that it contradicted previous guidance from federal immigration officials. The colleges were asking the court to block the rule at least temporarily. Under the policy, international students in the U.S. would have been forbidden from taking all of their courses online this fall. 

New visas would not have been issued to students at schools planning to provide all classes online, which includes Harvard. Students already in the U.S. would have faced deportation if they didn’t transfer schools or leave the country voluntarily.

The rule created a dilemma for thousands of foreign students who stayed in the U.S. after their colleges shifted to remote learning last spring.

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Former CDC directors: No president ever politicized science the way Trump has

Four former directors of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have written they have not seen a president politicize science the way President Donald Trump has.

"The four of us led the CDC over a period of more than 15 years, spanning Republican and Democratic administrations alike. We cannot recall over our collective tenure a single time when political pressure led to a change in the interpretation of scientific evidence," the former directors wrote in an op-ed published in Washington Post.

They urged the Trump administration to give the CDC its proper role in guiding the country's coronavirus response.

"It is not too late to give the CDC its proper role in guiding this response. But the clock is ticking," they wrote.

COVID-19 Global roundup: Arduous road ahead for Asian economy

Gross domestic product (GDP) dived by a record 41.2 percent in the three months ended March, on a quarter-on-quarter annualized basis, preliminary data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed on Tuesday.

The latest GDP estimate was worse than analyst's expectation. Economists polled by Reuters had forecasted the Southeast Asian economy to shrink 37.4 percent in the quarter when countries were under lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

The first in Asia to report second-quarter GDP data, the grim numbers for the wealthy city-state - a bellwether for the global economy - underscore the sweeping economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and also point to an arduous road ahead. 

(With input from agencies)

Read more here. 

California resumes shutdown measures as cases resurge

California's reopening was suspended on Monday, as Governor Gavin Newsom announced that indoor businesses and public venues, including cinemas, restaurants, bars, zoos, and museums, would shut down again.

Besides, in some severely hit counties, the restricted venues also include gyms, churches, hair salons, and malls.

The new restrictions were prompted by the recent resurge of confirmed COVID-19 cases in several U.S. states. California has reported 8,358 new coronavirus cases Monday, with the state now having over 330,000 and more than 7,000 deaths.

Read more here.

Deputy Defense Minister of Kazakhstan Bakyt Kurmanbaev died from COVID-19 on Tuesday at age 50, according to the country's Defense Ministry.

Hong Kong reports 48 new COVID-19 cases

Hong Kong on Tuesday reported 48 new coronavirus infections, including 40 that were transmitted locally, the region's health officials said.

Tuesday's new cases tally was slightly lower than Monday's 52, but remained in line with the recent resurgence of domestic cases.

The financial hub has reported over 1,500 cases and eight deaths since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Monday announced to further tighten limits on public gatherings from 50 to four people starting Wednesday.

Russia reports over 6,200 new COVID-19 cases

Russia reported 6,248 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing its nationwide tally to 739,947, the fourth largest in the world.

Authorities said 175 more fatalities were also recorded over the previous 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 11,614.

Moscow added 613 new cases, with the total number of infections at over 230,000 in the capital city. 

More than 270,000 people in Russia remain under medical observation.

Latest COVID-19 developments around the world

The U.S. recorded 59,222 new cases and 411 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases to over 3.36 million and death toll to 135,582. The surge of coronavirus infections has pushed some states to reinstate tougher anti-epidemic measures.

India's total number of confirmed cases surpassed the 900,000-mark on Tuesday, reaching 906,752; while total deaths stood at 23,727.

Mexico registered 4,685 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the nationwide count to 304,435, and 485 new deaths were reported, taking its death toll 35,491. Mexican Finance Minister Arturo Herrera tweeted that he has recovered from COVID-19 as he tested negative for the virus over the weekend.

Brazil reported a nationwide total of 1,884,967 people have tested positive for the virus and 72,883 people have died from the disease. Virus tests detected 20,286 new cases of infection and 733 more patients died.

Singapore reported 322 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 46,283. Of the new cases, 97 percent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

South Korea reported 33 more cases as of 0:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 13,512. No more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 289. The total fatality rate stood at 2.14 percent.

Hong Kong Disneyland to close again after resurgence of COVID-19 cases

Hong Kong Disneyland will once again shutter its gates from July 15 due to the rising coronavirus cases in the region, the Walt Disney Company said on Monday.

Hong Kong recorded 52 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, a new high since the pandemic re-emergence, including 41 local infections, according to local health authorities.

"As required by the government and health authorities in line with prevention efforts taking place across Hong Kong, Hong Kong Disneyland park will temporarily close from July 15," a Disney spokeswoman said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort hotels will remain open with enhanced health and safety measures in place, the company said.

The theme park reopened less than a month ago after closing in January over the COVID-19 pandemic. Guests and staff were required to wear face masks, social distance and go through temperature screenings upon entry.

Beijing recorded no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Monday for the eighth day in a row. The total number of cases stands at 335 since a cluster outbreak was discovered at the Xinfadi market on June 11, the municipal health commission said on Tuesday.

Twenty-one more patients recovered on Monday, taking the total number of recoveries to 130.

Beijing also registered no new asymptomatic cases on Monday, the municipal health commission added. 

So far, 18 asymptomatic patients are under medical observation.

On Tuesday, the spokesperson of the Beijing municipal education commission Li Yi said at a press conference that the high school entrance examination for middle school students in the city will take place on July 17-19.  

The examination will strictly implement the epidemic prevention and control measures and a total of 77,583 students will take this year's high school entrance examination in Beijing, Li introduced. 

The Chinese mainland on Monday recorded three new COVID-19 cases from overseas, but no new domestic cases or deaths.