Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has arrived at the Walter Reed Military Medical Center where he will work from the hospital's presidential offices over the next several days having tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Medics said on Saturday that the US President has made 'substantial progress", and the team is "cautiously optimistic" about him.
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Just had another great call with @POTUS. He sounds well and says he’s feeling good. We talked about the people’s business — fighting the pandemic, confirming Judge Barrett, and strengthening the economy for American families. Let’s keep our President & First Lady in our prayers.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) October 3, 2020
"Another 29 patients, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow", the centre said.
The latest increase to the Russian capital's death toll is slightly below the 32 new fatalities announced on Friday, which was the largest single-day rise in deaths in Moscow since mid-July.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United Kingdom has almost doubled its previous single-day record for new COVID-19 cases as 12,872 new positive tests have been added to the country's case total, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Saturday, adding that the sharp rise was caused by a technical issue.
Saturday's rise is a significant increase from the previous single-day record of 7,143 new cases, which was set on Tuesday. According to the department, the latest figure includes cases that were identified from 24 September to 1 October and not included in previous updates.
"Due to a technical issue, which has now been resolved, there has been a delay in publishing a number of COVID-19 cases to the dashboard in England. This means the total reported over the coming days will include some additional cases from the period between 24 September and 1 October, increasing the number of cases reported", the Department of Health and Social Care wrote.
The UK's COVID-19 case total now stands at 480,017, the department said.
A further 49 individuals in the UK have died due to complications from the coronavirus disease over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of people in the country who have died within 28 days of a positive test to 42,317, public health officials said.
PARIS (Sputnik) - France has broken its national single-day record for new COVID-19 cases on Saturday after the country's Public Health Agency recorded 16,972 positive tests over the past 24 hours.
According to the agency's daily statistical update, the latest rise is a significant jump from the 12,148 new positive tests reported on Friday. France's COVID-19 case total now stands at 606,625.
A further 49 people have died over the past 24 hours due to complications from the disease, raising France's COVID-19 death toll to 32,198, the agency said.
The previous record of 16,096 new cases on a single day was set on 24 September.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said in a statement on Saturday that all Senate floor activity would be delayed until after 19 October.
"On Monday, I intend to obtain a consent agreement for the Senate to meet in pro forma sessions for the next two weeks. Previously-scheduled floor activity will be rescheduled until after October 19th," McConnell wrote in a statement.
Despite the cancellation of floor activity, committee work, such as confirmation hearings for US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, would continue to take place, McConnell said.
Three US senators have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week, as has the president Donald Trump.
I just received word that I am positive for COVID-19. I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two. I will be receiving medical attention today and will keep the necessary folks apprised of my condition.
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) October 3, 2020
Thanks to all those who so lovingly have reached out about @realDonaldTrump and the rest of the family. It truly means a lot to us.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 3, 2020
I tested negative so I’ll give it a few more days out of and abundance of caution and test again and if I’m clear I’ll be back to work asap.
WARSAW (Sputnik) - Poland reports a record increase in COVID-19 cases for the third day in a row, registering 2,367 new cases in the past day, according to the Saturday update by the country’s health ministry.
Polish health authorities had logged 1,967 cases Thursday and 2,292 Friday.
This takes the total number of cases in the country to 98,140, while 34 new deaths take the death toll to 2,604.
Poland had not faced a scenario of explosive transmissions, posting 200-400 new cases daily throughout the spring and summer but the numbers have recently begun a steep upward trajectory.
"Petro Oleksiyovych has been admitted to one of the Kiev hospitals that treat coronavirus patients. Despite the fact that my husband has double pneumonia, he has a strong will and is demonstrating it in the fight against the disease. He strictly adheres to the prescribed treatment protocol," Maryna Poroshenko said in a video message, posted by the ex-president’s European Solidarity party on Facebook.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US Republican Senator for Wisconsin Ron Johnson has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the third senator to come down with the disease in 24 hours.
According to a statement circulated by Johnson’s spokesman, Ben Voelkel, the senator had already undergone self-isolation before eventually catching the virus.
"Senator Johnson was exposed to someone who tested positive for covid-19 on Sept. 14. He stayed in quarantine for 14 days without developing symptoms and tested negative twice during that time. He returned to Washington on Sept. 29 and shortly after was exposed to an individual who has since tested positive. After learning of this exposure, the senator was tested yesterday afternoon. This test came back positive," Voelkel said in a statement as cited by CNN.
The senator "feels healthy and is not experiencing symptoms," Voelkel went on to say.
A day prior, Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina tested positive for COVID-19 not long after President Donald Trump announced he and his wife Melania were infected.
TEHRAN (Sputnik) - The Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has announced plans to introduce a new fine to target individuals who try to conceal their COVID-19 infection, according to the website of the Iranian presidency on Saturday.
"Those who hide their disease should be fined," Rouhani said during a meeting of Iran's National Task Force for Fighting Coronavirus, as quoted by the presidential website.
According to the president, attempts to conceal a positive test for COVID-19 were "unforgivable," adding that the Iranian authorities must step up efforts to supervise and monitor the population amid the ongoing epidemiological crisis.
Tougher social distancing measures are also expected to be enforced in the Iranian capital of Tehran in order to curb the resurgence of the disease in the Middle Eastern country, according to the president.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Iranian Ministry of Health has confirmed 468,119 positive tests for COVID-19, resulting in the deaths of 26,746 people.
After experiencing a spike in cases in March, a new single-day record of 3,825 new positive tests was set in Iran this past Thursday.
KIEV (Sputnik) - Ukraine has registered a record 4,661 COVID-19 cases and 92 related deaths over the past 24 hours, the National Security and Defence Council said on Saturday.
This brings the case tally to 222,322, including 98,737 recoveries and 4,353 fatalities.
The Kharkov region with 516 infections accounts for most of the new cases. It is followed by the capital of Kiev (441), the Odessa region (310), the Dnepropetrovsk (297) and Sumy regions (231).
Health Minister Maksym Stepanov specified that there are 228 children and 246 health workers among the new patients. He also highlighted the rise in hospitalised patients.
Like almost elsewhere in Europe, Ukraine has been witnessing a sustained rise in daily COVID-19 cases. On Friday, the country reported 4,633 new cases, which was also the highest single-day increase.
Russia has registered 9,859 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, up from 9,412 yesterday, taking the cumulative case total to 1,204,502, the coronavirus response centre said on Saturday.
"In the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 9,859 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions, of which 2,680 (27.2 percent) were detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the response centre said in a statement.
The largest increase was identified in Moscow, where 2,884 new positive tests were registered (up from 2,704 yesterday). A total of 358 new cases were recorded in St. Petersburg (up from 302 yesterday) and 259 cases were confirmed in the Moscow region (up from 244 yesterday).
The response centre reported 174 new coronavirus-related fatalities, 186 yesterday, raising Russia's total death toll to 21,251.
As many as 5,563 coronavirus patients were confirmed to have recovered over the last day, 6,054 yesterday, bringing the total number of discharges to 975,859.
The Solomon Islands has registered its first case of the coronavirus disease, the country's Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said on Saturday.
According to Sogavare, a student who returned on board the repatriation flight from the Philippines tested positive for COVID-19 during a routine check.
"Government is well aware of the risks, keeping them there expose them to higher risk. There will be no lockdown as I have faith in our systems, if a lock down is required the public will be informed. For now all qurantine stations are a no go zone. Let us stand United," the prime minister said, as quoted by the Solomon Times newspaper.
Prior to leaving for the Solomon Islands, the student tested negative for COVID-19, Sogavare noted, adding that the country's Health Ministry was now tracking the patient's contacts.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga wished US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump a speedy recovery after they had tested positive for COVID-19.
"Dear President Trump, I was very worried about you when I read your tweet saying that you and Madam First Lady tested positive for COVID-19. I sincerely pray for your early recovery and hope that you and Madam First Lady will return to normal life soon," Suga wrote on Twitter.
More than 47.2 million tests for COVID-19 have been performed in Russia since the outbreak, the country's consumer rights and human welfare watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said on Saturday.
"We have conducted over 47.2 million coronavirus tests in Russia. 226,435 people are remaining under medical supervision," the watchdog said in a statement.
Rospotrebnadzor added that Russia conducted 423,000 tests in the past 24 hours alone.
US President Donald Trump, who has tested positive for the coronavirus infection, was given remdesivir as a treatment for the disease, the White House physician, Sean Conley, said in a memo.
"I am happy to report that the President is doing very well. He is not requiring any supplemental oxygen, but in consultation with specialists we have elected to initiate Remdesivir therapy. He has completed his first dose and is resting comfortably," Conley said.
According to a source at the Commission on Presidential Debates, there were no plans to scrap the debate after Donald Trump’s positive coronavirus test.
The number of people, who have died of the coronavirus in India, has increased by 1,069 to 100,842 within the past 24 hours, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Saturday.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen by 79,476 to 6,473,545 within the same period of time.
A day earlier, India registered 81,484 new COVID-19 cases, with 1,095 fatalities.
India comes second in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, following the United States with more than 7.33 million COVID-19 patients.
Campaign manager of US President Donald Trump Bill Stepien has been diagnosed with COVID-19, US media reported.
According to the Politico media outlet, Stepien, 42, has “mild flu-like symptoms.” He is going to work from home until the recovery.
