According to Johns Hopkins University, the highest number of those infected has been registered in the US (7.1 million with a death toll of 206,000), while India is second (6.1 million cases, 96,000 fatalities), and Brazil is third (4.5 million infected and almot 143,000 deaths). In Europe, the worst-hit countries remain the UK (around 450,000 cases, over 42,000 deaths) and Spain (alomost 750,000 infected and over 31,000 fatalities).
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian flagship carrier Aeroflot is resuming on Thursday flights from Moscow to the capital of South Korea - Seoul, suspended over the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.
Air traffic between Russia and South Korea resumed on 27 September. The decision was made following a meeting of Russia's coronavirus response centre led by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. The cabinet approved the decision by a relevant order.
Aeroflot will operate flight SU0250 Moscow - Seoul once a week, on Thursdays. Return flight SU0251 Seoul - Moscow will be operated on Saturdays. With the restoration of international air traffic, the frequency of flights may change.
Since August, Russia has begun to gradually resume air traffic with other countries. Currently, it is allowed to fly to Turkey, the UK, Tanzania, Switzerland, Egypt, the UAE, Maldives, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Governor of the Cuban capital of Havana Reinaldo Garcia Zapata has announced the withdrawal of the coronavirus-linked curfew and transport restrictions.
In late August, the city authorities introduced the curfew in Havana from 1 to 15 September. Later, the curfew was prolonged until the end of September.
"The ban on the movement of people and vehicles at night, the restrictions on the movement of public and private transport, as well as the restrictions on the movement between municipalities for street traders, have been removed", the governor said on late Wednesday, as quoted by the Prensa Latina news agency.
According to Garcia, the September restrictions had a positive impact on the epidemiological situation in the country with the decreasing number of newly discovered COVID-19 cases and the sinking number of new fatalities.
Out of the 18 new cases, fifteen were confirmed in the state of Victoria and three - in New South Wales.
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) – Argentina has confirmed 14,392 new cases of the coronavirus across the country within the past 24 hours marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak, with the total number of people infected with COVID-19 having reached 751,001, the national Ministry of Health said.
A day earlier, Argentina recorded 13,477 new COVID-19 cases and 406 fatalities.
The death toll from the coronavirus has risen by 419 to 16,937 people within the same period of time.
The number of recovered patients has reached 594,645, the ministry added.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow's COVID-19 death toll has risen by 24 over the past day to 5,254, the Russian capital's coronavirus response centre said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Another 24 patients, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow", the centre said.
On Monday, the single-day increase to the death toll was 27.
Most of the US military installations around the world lifted the novel coronavirus-related travel restrictions, the Defense Department said in a status update notice on Wednesday.
"Travel restrictions lifted at 135 of 231 installations. Of the 135 installations with lifted travel restrictions this week, zero reinstated travel restrictions while 18 lifted restrictions", the notice said.
All of the installations have met major safety criteria imposed by the military leadership as well as local authorities, the notice said.
Most of the military bases in which the restrictions remain in force are located in the United States, the notice added.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday announced 100 million euros ($117 million) in funding for Gavi to help promote the fight against the coronavirus.
"Today, I'm in a position to announce another 100 million euros that we have earmarked as special funds for Gavi dedicated to the fight against COVID-19 will be pledged and they will go into the COVAX advanced market commitment", the chancellor said.
Merkel added that the world was in for a long fight with the pandemic and urged the countries that are still hesitating to commit to global COVID-19 efforts.
"We are quite aware that we are in for the long haul and that we need more support. This is why I will continue to work to ensure that support has been given to this [ACT Accelerator and its COVAX vaccine facility] global platform and I call upon all our partners to actively engage because we all know that very much is at stake here. This is why I'd like to thank all those who have already engaged and committed themselves. All those who are still dithering - I call upon you to get involved, to commit yourself", the German leader said.
The White House is still trying to get a new coronavirus stimulus package through Congress before the US presidential election in November and hopes a compromise will be reached with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday.
"I spoke to speaker Pelosi several times over the weekend", Mnuchin said during an appearance on the CNBC network. "I say we’re going to give it one more serious try to get this done and I think we’re hopeful that we can get something done. I think there’s a reasonable compromise here".
US corporation Johnson & Johnson, which has recently started phase 3 trials of its vaccine against the coronavirus, is planning to make the medicament available worldwide, Alex Gorsky, the company's chairman and CEO, said on Wednesday.
"If our COVID-19 vaccine is found to be safe and effective, Johnson&Johnson is committed to ensuring it is accessible globally. As part of our committee, today we plan to allocate up to 500 million vaccine doses for lower-income countries, with delivery beginning mid next year. And recognizing the unique global demand for COVID-19 vaccines, our team is working tirelessly to further expand the number of available doses", Gorsky said during a high-level event at the UN General Assembly focused on accelerating the end of the pandemic.
The company announced phase 3 trials on 23 September. The final stage of the study will be conducted on 60,000 adult volunteers in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and South Africa.
The Johnson & Johnson single-dose shot is the fourth vaccine candidate to enter late-stage testing in the United States, after Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca. began similar trials. The other vaccine candidates require two doses.
"Today, I'm in a position to announce another 100 million euros that we have earmarked as special funds for Gavi dedicated to the fight against COVID-19 will be pledged and they will go into the COVAX advanced market commitment", the chancellor said.
Merkel added that the world was in for a long fight with the pandemic and urged the countries that are still "dithering" to commit to global COVID-19 efforts.
‼️ V souladu s čl. 5 a 6 ústavního zákona č. 110/1998 Sb., o bezpečnosti České republiky, vláda vyhlašuje pro území ČR z důvodu ohrožení zdraví v souvislosti s prokázáním výskytu koronaviru SARS CoV-2 nouzový stav od 00.00 hodin dne 5. října 2020 na dobu 30 dnů.
— Úřad vlády ČR (@strakovka) September 30, 2020
The Czech government decided to declare a 30-day state of emergency across the country starting from October 5 due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Health Minister Roman Prymula said on Wednesday.
"The state of emergency will allow us to quickly respond to the current situation amid new measures against the spread of the disease, in particular, to involve medical students in helping staff in hospitals and distributing necessary medical supplies. In general, the measures will be less stringent compared to the spring ones. In particular, stores, cafes or, for example, borders will not be closed. The government intends to preserve the economy as much as possible", Prymula said.
In accordance with the new rules, up to 10 people will be able to participate in mass events indoors and up to 20 people in open space, while sports competitions will be held without spectators. In addition, from 5 October, secondary schools in the regions with the highest number of COVID-19 patients will be closed for two weeks.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Bill Gates said Wednesday that his Gates Foundation had signed a deal with 16 pharmaceutical companies to ensure speedy broad distribution of approved vaccines.
"I'm thrilled today to announce a new joint agreement signed this morning by 16 pharmaceutical companies and the Gates Foundation. In this agreement, the companies commit to, among other things, scaling up manufacturing at an unprecedented speed and making sure that approved vaccines reach broad distribution as early as possible", Gates told a UNGA event.
According to Gates, the companies involved in this effort "are committed to using donations, foregoing profits and using tiered pricing to make their products as affordable as possible."
"Yesterday marked the grim milestone in our shared fight against COVID-19. 1 million people are confirmed to have lost their lives to this new virus. The real number is certainly higher", Tedros told a high-level UNGA event. "Thousands more are fighting for their lives in hospitals all over the world".
"The ACT-Accelerator provides the only safe and certain way to re-open the global economy as quickly as possible. A national vaccine effort in a handful of countries will not unlock the doors to the global economy and restore livelihoods", United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday.
"We will do everything we can to save every job", Johnson told Parliament.
"The way in which the government has exercised its powers to make secondary legislation during this crisis has been totally unsatisfactory", Lindsay Hoyle told Parliament.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Dutch oil giant Shell announced that some 9,000 jobs will be shed over the coming two years to restructure the company in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shell CEO Ben van Beurden, in an interview published on the company’s website, said the restructuring effort aims to make the company "a simpler, more streamlined, more competitive organisation that is more nimble and able to respond to customers." Van Bueren said that the measures reducing the company’s workforce will allow for cost-saving of up to $2.5 billion.
"... We will reduce between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs by the end of 2022. This includes around 1,500 people who have already agreed to take voluntary redundancy this year... Along with the other measures we will take, we should achieve a sustainable annual cost saving of between $2-2.5 billion", the executive said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the Shell "can work very effectively in ways we did not think we were ready for yet," Van Bueren added.
The changes fall in line with the target voiced earlier this year that Shell aims to become a net-zero carbon emissions company by 2050.
The COVID-19 pandemic came as a punch in the gut for the fossil fuel industry, as mitigation measures forced much of the world’s transport and manufacturing to a standstill. For a brief moment in April, US oil price went into the negative due to overproduction and shrinking storage spaces.
The market has since stabilised and prices have been recovering on the back of a production cut deal agreed between the world’s main oil exporters, but experts say demand is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The World Bank has announced a $12 billion allocation for an initiative to cover payments for coronavirus vaccines for low-income countries, The Guardian newspaper reported.
The programme is set to ensure countries of low and middle income would also get access to drugs against the virus, as the developed nations have already reserved a significant number of doses, World Bank president David Malpass said, as cited by the media outlet.
"Having this finance available will be a game-changer because once a safe and effective vaccine is available it will allow people to resume their lives with confidence", Malpass said.
He also called for rich states to join and invest in the scheme, which is yet to be approved by the World Bank’s shareholders.
The package would be engaged in COVID-19 emergency programmes launched in the spring, when the health crisis began. The countries concerned would be able to either purchase vaccines themselves, jointly with other nations or use procurement mechanisms.
The World Bank has launched emergency COVID-19 support strategies in 111 countries and set to invest $160 billion in 15 months to battle the pandemic.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The French health authorities on Thursday will unveil fresh decisions regarding the coronavirus restrictions in the country amid the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, President Emmanuel said on Wednesday.
"I held a Defence Council on Monday morning, and on Thursday the minister of health and the relevant members of the government will have to speak, as every week (...) to announce the decisions and adjustments made", Macron, who is currently visiting Latvia, said, as quoted by the BFMTV broadcaster.
He added that the authorities are constantly monitoring the coronavirus situation, adding that the infection has been circulating more actively since mid-summer. The president noted that each measure adopted by the state has a lifetime of fifteen days to determine if it is effective.
The government has to introduce necessary additional measures every week, depending on the evolution of the pandemic, Macron said.
France has been experiencing a rise in COVID-19 infections since July, with the most recent record daily high of 16,096 new cases confirmed on 24 September. The government has reimposed some preventive measures, including the requirement to wear masks outdoors and in shared spaces and a curfew for the nightlife facilities across the country.
To date, the authorities have reported 590,021 COVID-19 infections, with a death toll of 31,908.
CAIRO (Sputnik) – The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has impeded the implementation of Egypt’s space programme for four months, the CEO of the country’s Space Agency (EgSA), Mohamed El Koosy, has told Sputnik, adding that the agency would quickly handle this delay.
"The coronavirus pandemic has affected our projects in the space programme and forced us to postpone them for around four months, but we would quickly make up for this delay", El Koosy said.
The delay will not have an impact on the comprehensive development of the country’s space projects, according to the CEO.
However, El Koosy noted that plans to train the first Egyptian astronaut and receive submissions from possible candidates had also been set back due to the pandemic.
"We are currently conducting intensive research on this issue", the CEO said.
Earlier this year, the EgSA reportedly said that it was planning to declare a contest to choose the country’s first astronaut. At the first stage of the recruitment process, which is due to take up to three years, the agency intends to select candidates, and at the second stage, the selected candidates will start training to work on the International Space Station.
A date for the first Egyptian space mission is yet to be set, and two astronauts are ultimately expected to be chosen for it.
In 2016, the Egyptian government approved draft legislation on the establishment of a national space agency, which had been instructed to draw up a programme to create the country’s entire space industry over the short and medium term. The cabinet plans to not only produce and develop satellites and space-based systems but also launch them into outer space from its own territory.
Until recently, Russia, Ukraine, China, the United States and a number of European countries have provided Egypt with significant assistance to help it set up satellites, including those in the navigation and TV fields.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has registered 8,481 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, up from 8,232 yesterday, taking the cumulative case total to 1,176,286, the coronavirus response centre said on Wednesday.
"In the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 8,481 COVID-19 cases in 84 regions, of which 2,170 (25.6 percent) were detected with people showing no clinical symptoms", the response centre said in a statement, specifying that the total count has now reached 1,176,286.
MOSCOW Sputnik) - Participants in the post-registration clinical trials of the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 Sputnik V have already started receiving the second component of the vaccine, six people have been inoculated, Moscow Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova said on Wednesday.
Moscow launched the post-registration trials on 7 September, the first participants received the vaccine on 9 September. Nineteen medical centres in the Russian capital are engaged in the studies.
"Six participants of the trials have already received the second component of the coronavirus vaccine. We plan to vaccinate around 20 people today. Sputnik V is a bicomponent vaccine, and the second inoculation is necessary to enhance the immune response obtained after the first inoculation. Following the first inoculation, which over 5,700 people have received, we see that the overwhelming majority [of those vaccinated] are feeling fine", Rakova said.
