The pandemic continues to spread, with the number of infected surpassing 4,600,000 globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US reported the highest number of cases - closing in on 1.5 million infected and 88,000 fatalities. Russia, meanwhile, has surpassed Britain and other European countries with over 270,000 infected.
At the same time, reports suggest at least 1,800,000 people worldwide have recovered from the disease.
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil has increased by 7,938 (14,919 yesterday) to 241,080 within the past 24 hours, the national Ministry of Health said on Sunday.
The death toll has risen by 485 (over 800 yesterday) to 16,118 people within the same period of time.
A total of 94,122 people have recovered from COVID-19, the ministry said.
Brazil is currently the fourth worst-hit country in terms of the number of coronavirus cases, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.
MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - The number of new COVID-19 cases in Mexico has risen by 2,075 (2,112 yesterday) to 49,219 ahead of the gradual lifting of coronavirus-related restrictions, which will begin on Monday, according to the country's Health Ministry.
"The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Mexico has reached 49,219 since 28 February [when the first case of the infection was registered]. In the past 14 days there have been 11,105 infections", Mexican Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said at a Sunday press conference broadcast on Twitter.
Over a 24-hour period, Mexico confirmed 132 new coronavirus-related deaths (278 yesterday), bringing the total number of fatalities to 5,177.
TIRASPOL (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the unrecognised Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, or Transnistria) has increased by 19 over the past 24 hours to 791, the PMR's coronavirus response centre said on Sunday.
On Saturday, the daily increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Transnistria stood at 16, while on Friday, 46 new cases of the disease were confirmed. At the same time, on 14 May, no new cases of COVID-19 were registered in PMR.
According to the centre, 11 patients have recovered over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 360. The death toll from the disease in Transnistria stands at 30.
CAIRO (Sputnik) - The daily increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases in Egypt has for the first time exceeded 500 (491 yesterday), bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 12.229, spokesman for the Egyptian Health Ministry Khaled Mugahed said in a statement on Sunday.
According to Mugahed, Egyptian medics have registered 510 COVID-10 cases and 18 fatalities over the past 24 hours.
"The total number of patients with coronavirus in Egypt as of Sunday stands at 12,229 people, 3,172 people have recovered, 630 people have died", Mugahed said in a statement.
"Seventy-seven patients with diagnosed pneumonia and a positive coronavirus test result have died in Moscow", the COVID-19 response centre said.
This is the Russian capital's highest daily count after 74 deaths were recorded on Friday. The city is the epicenter of the country's outbreak, with more than a half of confirmed cases.
ANKARA (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Turkey rose by 1,368 to a total of 149,435 cases from 148,067 reported the day before, official statistics published Sunday showed.
Further 44 coronavirus patients died in the past day, raising the country's death toll to 4,140. There were 41 new deaths on Saturday.
The number of patients who have recovered from COVID-19 has increased by 1,825. The overall number of recoveries since the start of the epidemic now stands at 109,962.
ROME (Sputnik) - Italy’s Civil Protection Department reported 145 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily death toll in over two months, continuing the country's deceleration across the board.
The department also registered just 675 new cases of infection, similarly the lowest since early March.
This takes the total infected to 225,435 while the death toll has reached a staggering 31,908.
The number of recoveries has increased by over 2,300 people, making up a total of 125,176 survivors and leaving 68,351 active cases.
PARIS (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus-related deaths rose to 28,108 on Sunday from 27,625 recorded the day before, the Health Ministry said in a press release.
The daily increase of 483 is five times higher than 96 new deaths reported on Saturday.
The number of coronavirus patients in hospitals dropped to 19,361 from 19,432 reported on Saturday. The number of intensive care patients was down to 2,087 from 2,132.
A total of 98,569 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have been hospitalised in France since the start of the outbreak, almost 17,500 have been in ICU. More than 61,200 have been discharged.
The global number of those infected with the coronavirus has increased by 100,012 over the past day, reaching 4,525,497 COVID-19 cases, the World Health Organisation showed on Saturday.
The death count stands at 307,395 people, with over 5,000 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, according to the WHO dashboard.
The Americas are leading with 1,966,932 cases.
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who heads Russia’s coronavirus response centre, explained in a television appearance that treatment for coronavirus patients is paid out of the state medical insurance fund which covers salaries, medication costs, medical and proactive equipment apart from the actual treatment of every coronavirus patient in the country.
"Don't even think that our doctors are trying to somehow hide COVID or not COVID … We have a fairly high treatment rate for COVID. It is more than the rates for cardiovascular diseases. And even if we take the economic factor, it would seem that any hospital should be interested in delivering more COVID", Golikova said on state TV.
A day prior, Golikova estimated that the coronavirus mortality rate in Russia is 7.5 times lower than the world's average with only a 0.9 percent case-fatality ratio, compared to the United States’ 6.1 percent.
The low mortality rate has become the focus of much public discussion in Russia, with several domestic and foreign media outlets questioning the authenticity of the official statistics.
The number of people who have died in the United Kingdom after testing positive for COVID-19 has risen by 170, which is the lowest number since the day after the lockdown began.
The United Kingdom has confirmed a total of 243,303 cases, with the death toll at 34,636.
"The government will invest up to £93 million to accelerate construction of the new Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) which, when completed, will have capacity to produce enough vaccine doses to serve the entire UK population in as little as six months. The funding will ensure the centre opens in Summer 2021, a full 12 months ahead of schedule", the government's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said in a statement.
The authorities also plan to invest 38 million pounds ($45.9 million) to set up a rapid deployment facility for mass production of vaccines starting in the summer of 2020.
"The new Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre and temporary facility will build ‘fill and finish’ capacity, bringing the UK vaccine programme together from discovery to distribution", Business Secretary Alok Sharma said.
The United Kingdom has confirmed a total of 240,161 cases, with the death toll at 34,466.
MOSCOW, May 17 (Sputnik) - Russians will have to follow the same COVID-19 prevention guidelines during the summer in order to decrease the risk of infection, Anna Popova, the head of Russia's public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said on Sunday.
"We have to be ready to follow the same rules in the summer, in the heat, to lower the infection risks", Popova said in an interview with the TV channel Rossiya 1.
In a separate interview, she argued that Russia has slowed the spread of the virus.
"I would say we have stopped the increase [in infections], as of now", Popova told the Moscow.Kremlin.Putin TV programme broadcast by the channel Russia 24.
She added that the situation had stabilised across the entire country.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Anna Popova, the head of Russia's public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said there was only a hope that Russia will have a holiday season this year, noting that the COVID-19 situation should be assessed in the coming two weeks.
"So far, there are just big, good, right — but still just hopes. We have to see what happens in the coming two weeks", Popova said in an interview with the TV channel Rossiya 1, when asked if it would be possible to reopen Russia's resorts this summer.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Russia has increased by 9,709 to 281,752 in the last 24 hours, the response centre said on Sunday.
"In the last 24 hours, there have been 9,709 [newly] confirmed cases of the coronavirus infection in 85 regions, including 4,116 detected cases (42.4%) without clinical implications", the centre said in a statement, adding that the total of confirmed cases had reached 281,752 in 85 regions.
The number of recoveries has increased by 4,207 to 67,373.
"In the last 24 hours, 94 people died ... 2,631 people have died during the entire period", the statement added.
BANGKOK (Sputnik) - Three new COVID-19 cases were detected in Thailand on Sunday, along with no new fatalities in the last 24 hours, Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, a spokesman for the country's coronavirus response centre, said, amid the process of lifting the lockdown.
"We have registered three new cases of the infection in Thailand today. In the last 24 hours, we have once again registered no deaths from the infection", he said during a press briefing, adding that all three patients have been quarantined upon returning from Pakistan and Egypt.
NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in India grew by a record 4,900 in the preceding 24 hours to 90,927, data from the Health Ministry showed on Sunday as the country has become what many are calling a new COVID-19 hot spot in Asia after surpassing China’s numbers.
The official statistics showed that 53,946 people were undergoing treatment and 34,108 had recovered, an increase of 3,956 in the past day.
The death toll has reached 2,872 people after 120 additional deaths were registered over the past 24 hours.
The state of Maharashtra has been the most affected by the virus with 30,706 confirmed cases.
