Over the past 24 hours, 4,743 people have died from COVID-19 worldwide, placing the death toll at 461,715 fatalities, according to the report.
The cumulative global toll of confirmed cases has now reached 8,708,008, the report says.
Nearly half of all cases and deaths — 4.3 million and 219,144, respectively — remain concentrated in the Americas. The United States continues to rank first in terms of cases and fatalities — 2.2 million and 118,895, respectively.
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brazil has surpassed 1.1 million, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement.
The case tally currently stands at 1,106,470 - an increase by 21,432 over the past 24 hours.
The overall number of recoveries totals 571,649, the ministry said.
The death toll has risen by 654 over the past day to 51,271 - 4.6 percent of all cases.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa has crossed the milestone of 100,000, the country's Department of Health said on Monday.
"As of today, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa has breached the 100 000 mark at 101 590. 1 353 176 tests have been completed. We report a further 61 COVID-19 related deaths. The number of recoveries is 53 130", one department said on Twitter.
According to attached statistical table, the majority of cases — a total of 73.7 percent — have been detected in the Western Cape and Guateng provinces, whereas Western Cape has also accounted for the majority of fatalities — 1,458 out of 1,991 deaths.
GAZA (Sputnik) - Further 156 coronavirus cases have been confirmed by the Palestinian authorities in the past day, bringing the nation's total to 1,184, the health minister said Monday.
"A total of 156 new cases of infection with coronavirus have been recorded on the outskirts of Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah and Qalqilya. The overall number of infected is 1,184", Mai al-Kaila told reporters.
The minister said that 270 Palestinians had been recently tested after returning from Egypt. They have been self-isolating after their test results came back negative for COVID-19.
"Another 26 patients, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow", the city's coronavirus response centre said in a statement on Monday.
In the previous day, 20 people infected with the coronavirus died in Moscow.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of COVID-19 cases recorded in Brazil over the past 24 hours should be carefully examined, as the considerable decrease in new registered cases could point to underreporting, Mike Ryan, the executive director of the health emergencies program at the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Monday.
Brazil confirmed over 17,400 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, which marks a decrease in the daily increment compared to previous numbers. For example, on Sunday, the country recorded nearly 35,000 cases of the infection.
"While the overall pattern of disease in Brazil, as I have said last week, is overall flat, the number in the last 24 hours needs to be examined carefully," Ryan said at a press conference.
According to the executive director, having looked at the numbers over the month of June, which have remained relatively stable, it becomes clear that there is a kind of stable weekly pattern and decrease at weekend.
"But there certainly has been a spike in [the number of cases] in the last 24 hours and, again, we are looking into how much of that is ... related to reporting," Ryan added.
Ryan also said that Brazil's testing per population remained relatively low, as the positivity rates for testing were still quite high.
"I believe the positivity rate was 31 percent for Brazil. So that generally means that there are probably more cases out there than have been reported. What we tend to see is that positivity rate dropping usually down to 5 percent or less in countries that are detecting all of their cases ... From that perspective, we would say that this trend or this large number of cases are not reflective of exhaust of testing, but, as I have said, probably underestimate the actual numbers of cases," Ryan added.
Brazil comes second on a global tally of coronavirus cases after the United States, which has recorded over 2.2 million COVID-19 patients. So far, the Latin American country has confirmed over 1 million cases, including 50,617 fatalities and nearly 550,000 recoveries.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - South Korea is "on track" with the coronavirus disease control, but risks remain, the executive director of the WHO health emergencies program, Michael Ryan, said on Monday.
According to Ryan, there was just a three percent overall increase in cases in South Korea last week and only three deaths, with the vast majority of detected cases are linked to existing and recognized clusters, providing the country's authorities a good understanding where the virus is spreading.
"But that's a constant struggle to stay ahead of the virus. So continued vigilance is extremely important ... It is a challenge for all countries, and I think South Korea with other countries demonstrate that even when you get down to very low incidents you still have to have very strong public health surveillance system and you still have to have very capable public health infrastructure and you still have to have a population that is willing to take the necessary actions," he said.
Nevertheless, Ryan expressed confidence in the country's ability to contain the spread of COVID-19.
"I would say that Korea is still on track with its disease control efforts, but, like all countries, there are always risks of any disease getting out of control," he added.
South Korea has confirmed a total of 12,438 cases, with the death toll of 280.
MOSCOW, June 22 (Sputnik) - The increase in COVID-19 cases in the United States cannot be explained just by increased testing as there is evidence of increased hospitalization, the executive director of the WHO health emergencies program, Michael Ryan, said on Monday.
"What is clear is that the increase is not entirely explained through just increased testing. There's some evidence of increasing hospitalizations, but this was always a possibility when restrictions are lifted and, again, has happened in many countries," Ryan told a virtual briefing.
The WHO official noted that it was important to look at what combination of measures could be taken in this regard.
"Where necessary and, hopefully, at a much more localized level there may be a need to put some restrictions in place in order to suppress infection. And again, we've seen countries do that at a micro level, not at a state level or even at a national level, but do where needed. If there are clusters of cases with potential for community transmission then there may need to be some adapted measures to suppress infection while clusters are investigated," he said.
Ryan noted that he had seen the reports that some of new cases were younger people.
"That may reflect the fact that younger people are more mobile and they're are getting out and taking advantage of the the reduction in the restrictions of movement," he explained.
All 50 US states started lifting their COVID-19 lockdowns in May, easing various regulations including those on the movement of people.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The death toll in the United States from the novel coronavirus has surpassed 120,000, with the number of cases exceeding 2.28 million, Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center data showed on Monday.
Health officials in the country have documented 120,036 fatalities and 2,286,457 cases overall, according to the data.
The United States is leading the world in the number of reported COVID-19 deaths and confirmed cases. There are nearly 9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide and nearly 470,000 deaths, according to the data.
The organisers of the Golden Globe awards for film and television have announced that the ceremony has been postponed to February 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday urged for the global boost in the production of dexamethasone, which was found to be effective in the COVID-19 treatment.
"Although the data are still preliminary, the recent finding that the steroid dexamethasone has life-saving potential for critically ill COVID-19 patients gave us a much-needed reason to celebrate. The next challenge is to increase production and rapidly and equitably distribute dexamethasone worldwide, focusing on where it is needed most," Tedros told a virtual briefing.
The WHO head noted that demand for the drug had grown following the UK clinical trial's results.
"Fortunately, this is an inexpensive medicine and there are many dexamethasone manufacturers worldwide, who we are confident can accelerate production. Guided by solidarity, countries must work together to ensure supplies are prioritized for countries where there are large numbers of critically ill patients, and that supplies remain available to treat other diseases for which it is needed," Tedros said.
The WHO chief remarked on the growing number of coronavirus cases.
"It seems that almost every day we reach a new and grim record. Yesterday, more than 183,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported to WHO – easily the most in a single day so far. More than 8.8 million cases have now been reported to WHO, and more than 465,000 people have lost their lives," Tedros told a virtual briefing.
According to the WHO chief, some countries are continuing to experience rapid rises in cases and deaths, while others, which have brought their numbers down, were seeing "an upswing in cases" as lockdowns are lifted.
"All countries are facing a delicate balance, between protecting their people, while minimizing the social and economic damage. It’s not a choice between lives and livelihoods. Countries can do both. We urge countries to be careful and creative in finding solutions that enable people to stay safe while getting on with their lives. We continue to urge all countries to double down on the fundamental public health measures that we know work," Tedros said.
The world has recorded 8.9 million coronavirus cases so far, according to the statistics collected by the Johns Hopkins University.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced on Monday the next serious relaxation of coronavirus-related restrictions.
"Having analyzed the situation once again, having weighed pros and cons, consulting with specialists, I consider it possible to take the next very serious step to get out of the sanitary restrictions," he wrote in his personal blog.
On Tuesday, restaurants, cafes, fitness clubs and swimming pools will reopen their doors, and restrictions on the operation of libraries and kindergartens will be lifted, Sobyanin said.
CAIRO (Sputnik) - The number of COVID-19 cases in Morocco surpassed 10,000 after 102 new infections were detected in past 24 hours, the country's Health Ministry said on Monday.
According to the ministry's data, the exact number of cases registered in Morocco since the start of the outbreak is 10,079 with 8,319 recoveries and 214 deaths.
The Moroccan authorities decided to prolong the state of health emergency until July 10 due to the pandemic. However, from June 25, a number of restrictions will be lifted as part of a phased easing of the quarantine. In particular, cafes and restaurants will be allowed to operate if the occupancy rate does not exceed 50 percent, the same with commercial activities in shopping malls. Road and rail traffic between cities and domestic flights will resume.
At the same time, museums, theatres, cinemas and public swimming pools remain closed.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Trump administration does not see a second coronavirus wave in the United States and has no intent to shut the economy down again despite a jump in new COVID-19 cases, White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said Monday.
“We know how to deal with this stuff now … we’ve come a long way since last winter and there is no second wave coming,” Kudlow told the CNBC network. “I'm not going to advocate shutting down any place, if that's what the locals think is necessary. The costs of shutdown in economic terms, in psychological terms, in addiction terms … we've learned a lot since last February.”
At least 22 of the 50 US states have reported a rise in COVID-19 cases after reopening their economies over the past two months. In Arizona, a particular hotspot, infections shot up 54 percent in a week. These come as more than 2.2 million Americans have already been infected by the coronavirus, with a death toll nearing 120,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. A new model by the University of Washington predicts 200,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States by Oct. 1.
Kudlow’s comments also ran contrary to White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro’s remarks on Sunday that the administration was preparing for a possible second COVID-19 wave this fall, as a majority of US states and territories logged an increase in their seven-day average of new reported case numbers following an easing of social-distancing measures. President Donald Trump, in a political rally on Saturday, encouraged coronavirus response workers to slow down testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered.
The US economy shrank 5 percent in the first three months of 2020 for the sharpest economic decline since the Great Recession of 2008-09. Despite all 50 states in America having reopened most of their economy from the COVID-19 lockdowns, economists still warn of sharp recession by the second quarter, meaning job losses could remain sizable.
MINSK (Sputnik) - Belarus has confirmed 518 new cases of the coronavirus infection over the past 24 hours as the rate of spread continues to slow, with the total tally reaching 59,023, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
Belarus has been recording less than 700 cases of the infection per day since last week, and on Sunday, the daily increment was lower than 600 for the first time since mid-April. Earlier in June, the ministry announced that there was a positive trend in reducing the incidence rate of COVID-19.
"We registered 59,023 people with a positive COVID-19 test. As many as 876,639 tests have been conducted. Over the entire period of the spread of the infection in the country, 351 COVID-19 patients with a number of chronic diseases died," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the death toll has grown by five over the past day.
Meanwhile, the number of recoveries among COVID-19 patients has increased to 37,923 since the start of the outbreak, the ministry added.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The cumulative number of coronavirus cases across the African continent has exceeded 300,000 with nearly 8,000 deaths, the African chapter of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
"Over 303,000 confirmed #COVID19 cases on the African continent - with more than 145,000 recoveries & 7,999 deaths," WHO said.
South Africa remains the most heavily infected country of the region with 97,302 COVID-19 cases detected with 1,930 fatalities, WHO Africa’s statistics show.
Matshidiso Moeti, the head of WHO Africa, earlier in the month warned that the coronavirus infection was accelerating and making its way from urban regions into the countrysides.
LONDON (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus-related deaths reported in the United Kingdom over a single day fell to a record low on Monday, with 15 more people dying.
"As of 5 pm on 21 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 42,647 have sadly died," the Department of Health tweeted.
The overall death toll stood at 42,632 on Sunday.
Further 958 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 305,289, the lowest since the lockdown began in March.
A surge in COVID-19 cases has been recorded at the US Andersen air base on the island of Guam in the Western Pacific, where a total of 37 servicemen in two units have been infected, Brig. Gen. Gentry W. Boswell, commander of the 36th Wing at the base, said on Monday.
"Recently, Andersen AFB [Air Force Base] has experienced a surge of COVID19 positive cases among service members assigned to the base," Boswell said in a statement, as quoted by the Pacific News Center.
According to the military, there are two groups of COVID-19 cases on Guam. One unit includes 35 cases among airmen who arrived on the island on 25 May and were restricted to their hotel and their work at Andersen. Another air force unit that came as a medical team to support Naval Hospital Guam's efforts to fight COVID-19 in early April has two cases of the disease.
"In summary, the current total of Airmen who have tested positive with COVID-19 is 37. Again, all are in medical quarantine at Andersen AFB," Boswell said.
Boswell added that a command investigation is underway to determine whether the airmen were infected with the virus on Guam or before arriving on the island.
According to the military, the outbreak might have been caused by a breach of the movement restriction orders.
A second wave of the coronavirus is less likely in the Netherlands due to the restrictions introduced to curb the pandemic, however, it cannot be excluded, Jacco Wallinga, the head of the infectious disease modeling department at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), told the local Algemeen Dagblad newspaper on Monday.
"Given the methods that we now use for monitoring, and good tracking of sources and contacts, the occurrence of local clusters is more realistic [than second wave]. However, the second wave cannot be completely ruled out," Wallinga said, adding that all efforts currently being made aim to quickly extinguish possible epicenters so that new cases of the disease do not cause an outbreak.
According to the specialist, as of now, it seems that the overall transmission of the virus is limited. However, following social distancing guidelines is still necessary, the official added.
"As long as there are still people with COVID-19 in the Netherlands, neglecting these rules will inevitably lead to a rapid increase in the number of infected people. Therefore, it is still necessary to keep a distance," Walling said.
As of Monday, the Netherlands has confirmed 49,593 cases of the coronavirus infection, including 6,090 fatalities, according to the RIVM.
Iran has recorded over 2,500 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, with the country continuing to see a triple-digit daily death toll for a fourth consecutive day after a brief drop last week, the Health Ministry's data showed on Monday.
According to spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari, a further 2,573 people have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the tally to 207,525. The death toll has risen by 119 to 9,742.
Over 166,400 coronavirus patients have recovered.
New daily cases in Iran started to climb again in early June following religious events and the reopening of mosques and restaurants.
After seeing an original spike in coronavirus cases in February and March, the Seoul metropolitan area is now experiencing the second wave of the epidemic, the Health Ministry's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Monday.
"We originally predicted that the second wave to emerge in fall or winter. Our forecast turned out to be wrong. As long as people [are] having close contact with others, we believe that infections will continue," KCDC chief Jeong Eun-kyeong said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.
The second wave appears to have stemmed from infection clusters detected in the capital and its suburbs in early May, according to the top health official.
Earlier in the day, the country recorded only 17 new cases of infection, taking the total to 12,438. The news agency attributed the lowest daily case rise in almost a month due to less testing over the weekend. The figure represents a significant drop from the weekend, which saw 67 and 48 new cases, respectively.
New Zealand is going to continue the implementation of strict border security measures to halt the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.
"So, while the world enters this dangerous new phase, we remain at a phase of border containment ... That is why shoring up the border as we intend as a government is our absolute priority. Fourteen days of managed isolation is required of every person that enters New Zealand and is the best way to preserve our current freedoms and open economy. It is the main event alongside testing," Ardern said at a press conference.
She also announced making changes into the original COVID-19 health order, which is to be renewed later in the day.
"We've taken the opportunity, while renewing that health order, to make it crystal clear that individuals must submit to testing and medical exams, including the potential of multiple tests. It also spells out that for a person to make the low-risk indicator by day 14 in order to leave isolation or quarantine they are expressly required to submit to a test and that test might be negative," the prime minister said.
She added that the authorities were extending their cruise ship ban, with exceptions for cargo and fishing vessels as well as those in need of repair, while demanding a two-week quarantine for crew members, unless they have been on a vessel for more than 28 days. The extension comes into effect on June 30.
New Zealand has confirmed a total of 1,163 cases.
Russia has registered 7,600 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours (7,728 yesterday), bringing the total count to 592,280, the national coronavirus response center said on Monday.
"Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 7,600 COVID-19 cases in 83 regions, of which 2,473 (32.5 percent) have been detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the response center said in a statement, adding that the country had confirmed 592,280 cases (+1.3 percent) so far.
Of all the new cases, 1,068 have been registered in Moscow, 506 in the Moscow Region and 295 in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area (compared to yesterday's 968, 549 and 294, respectively).
The country's COVID-19 death toll has grown by 95 (109 yesterday) to 8,206.
As many as 4,705 COVID-19 patients have recovered across the country (5,119 yesterday), bringing the total number of cured people to 344,416.
Over 17.2 million tests to detect COVID-19 have been conducted in Russia since the beginning of the outbreak, and 312,000 people across the country remain under medical monitoring as suspected virus carriers, public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.
Kyrgyzstan has registered a record daily increase of 205 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the country's coronavirus response center told Sputnik on Monday.
On Sunday, the response center reported 170 new cases, which pushed the total tally beyond 3,000.
"On 22 June 22, 2020, 205 new COVID-19 cases have been registered in the republic, of which 82 have been recorded in Bishkek," a spokesperson for the response center said, adding that the total count has now reached 3,356.
Twenty-six new patients are doctors, which takes the total count of infected medical staffers to 582, Kyrgyzstan's COVID-19 response center said,
The death toll has increased by three to 40, and the number of cured COVID-19 patients has grown by 10 to 2,021, according to the spokesperson.
Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov announced on Saturday plans to suspend interurban public transport services in a bid to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus.
Our Coronavirus testing is so much greater (25 million tests) and so much more advanced, that it makes us look like we have more cases, especially proportionally, than other countries. My message on that is very clear!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020
Germany's number of COVID-19 cases recorded since the beginning of the outbreak has reached 190,359 after a daily increase of 537, the Robert Koch Institute said on Monday.
This is a slight drop from the 687 new positive cases reported on Sunday.
Germany's COVID-19 death toll has reached 8,885, with three new fatalities recorded over the past 24 hours, the Robert Koch Institute said. The total number of cured COVID-19 patients has topped 175,000.
Bavaria accounts for the bulk of Germany's COVID-19 cases (47,867), followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (41,218) and Baden-Wurttemberg (35,272). The German capital of Berlin has recorded 7,883 cases sing the beginning of the outbreak.
India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday reported 14,821 new cases of coronavirus infection, in line with the record-setting number of daily cases registered over the past four days.
This brings the country’s total to 425,282 confirmed cases with some 237,000 recoveries, putting India above previous hotspots such as Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom in terms of total infections.
An additional 445 fatalities since the last update has taken the COVID-19 death toll to 13,669.
According to the ministry’s numbers, the central state of Maharashtra, where the city of Mumbai is located, is the epicenter of the subcontinent accounting for 132,000 of the confirmed cases and 6,170 deaths. The capital state of Delhi and the southern state of Tamil Nadu share second and third places in infection rates with 59,000 cases each.
