The overall coronavirus tally has reached 38.7 million infected worldwide and the death toll has surpassed 1,100,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US remains the most affected country in the world, with over 8 million cases and over 218,000 deaths, followed by India, with 7.3 million infected and 112,000 fatalities, and Brazil, with almost 5.2 million cases and a death toll of 153,000.
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New Zealand registered one new case of COVID-19 in the community on Sunday, as the disease reappeared in the country after many days of no transmission within its borders.
The infected individual was identified early, and the risk of transmission was restrained, Health Chief Ashley Bloomfield stated.
Total deaths from COVID-19 rose to 153,675 from 153,214 a day before, according to the health ministry.
PARIS (Sputnik) - France on Saturday reported a record rise in COVID-19 cases with 32,427 new infections registered over the past 24 hours, according to figures from the Sante Publique agency heading the coronavirus response in the country.
This takes the total number of infected since the beginning of the pandemic to 867,197, the tenth highest in the world.
The number of fatalities from the disease has increased by 90 since the last update, taking the total to 33,392, according to the Sante Publique.
According to the agency’s figures, 7,198 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in the past week, 1,269 of whom were taken intensive care.
Like many other nations, especially in Europe, France is in the throes of a second wave that has outpaced the initial outbreak in spring. Transmission cases have dwarfed those seen in spring, although COVID-19 deaths have become less frequent.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Austria has registered 1,747 new cases of the coronavirus infection over the past day, setting a new single-day high, the country's Interior Ministry said on Saturday, adding that the country's tally now stands at 63,134.
According to the ministry, 599 of those new cases were recorded in the capital of Vienna.
Meanwhile, the number of those who recovered from the disease has reached 48,771, and the death toll has increased to 889. As of now, 734 patients are hospitalized, including 133 in intensive care units.
Austria, like many other European countries, has been experiencing a sharp rise in the infection rate since early September.
According to Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project, the US has registered over 68,000 new cases.
MURMANSK (Sputnik) - Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has self-quarantined and been working remotely since her arrival back home from a European Union summit in Luxembourg, Klara Watmani, the minister's press secretary, told the SVT broadcaster on Saturday, after news emerged that two of the meeting's participants tested positive for the new coronavirus.
"The foreign minister feels good, she has no symptoms. But she works from home [and will continue to do so] until she receives the results of her [COVID-19] test", Watmani said.
Earlier in the day, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes, who both attended the EU summit on Monday, announced that they had both tested positive for COVID-19.
"My test for the coronavirus came back positive. I got infected probably from someone in my family, given the precautions I take outside the home", Wilmes wrote on Twitter.
Het resultaat van mijn Covidtest is positief. Een besmetting die wellicht plaatsgevonden heeft in familiekring, gezien de voorzorgsmaatregelen die ik buitenshuis heb genomen.
— Sophie Wilmès (@Sophie_Wilmes) October 17, 2020
BANGKOK (Sputnik) - Thailand on Saturday registered domestic cases of the coronavirus infection for the first time since September 10, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
The infections were reported in the city of Mae Sot that borders Myanmar. A Myanmar couple — a 53-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man — living in Thailand were visited by their son living in Myanmar, who tested positive for COVID-19 a couple of days later. The other three patients are the couple's relatives, the ministry added.
Given the update, over the past four months, Thailand has registered only seven local infections, with two of them being registered in September. All other cases have been imported.
So far, Thailand has confirmed over 3,600 cases — the lowest number of infections among Asian states — including 3,478 recoveries and 59 fatalities.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Belgium has registered nearly 10,400 new infections on 13 October marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Belgian public health research institute Sciensano said on Saturday.
According to the health authority, on Monday, a total of 9,250 infections were recorded, which was a dramatic surge compared to 2,380 cases confirmed the day before, while the number amounted to 10,369 on Tuesday. Within the context, the number of hospitalizations also continues to rise.
The country's total tally has surpassed 202,100 infections and includes 10,359 fatalities.
Earlier this week, the authorities introduced a curfew across the country, as well as decided to shut all cafes and restaurants for a month, along with other measures in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.
WARSAW (Sputnik) - Poland has registered 9,622 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, setting another single-day record, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
The previous highest spike of 8,099 cases was reported on Thursday. On Friday, the country saw the record daily COVID-19 death toll, confirming 132 new fatalities.
This time, the death toll has risen by 84 to 3,524.
The tally of Poland's cumulative cases now stands at 167,230.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has registered 14,922 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, slightly down from a record 15,150 yesterday, taking the cumulative total to 1,384,235, the nation’s coronavirus response centre said on Saturday.
"In the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 14,922 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions, of which 4,019 (26.9 percent) were detected with people showing no clinical symptoms", the response centre said.
The largest increase was identified in Moscow, where 4,648 new positive tests were registered (down from 5,049 yesterday). A total of 659 new cases were recorded in St. Petersburg (up from 647 yesterday) and 458 cases were confirmed in the Moscow Region (up from 448 yesterday).
