At the moment, the US is the worst-hit country (7.45 million infected, over 210,000 deaths), while India has the second-highest number of cases (6.69 million with 102,000 fatalities), and Brazil - the second-highest death toll (over 146,600 dead, and 4.9 million infected).
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Food and Drug Administration has decided on a two month waiting period before approving its new COVID-19 vaccine, The New York Times reported.
The FDA has issued stronger guidelines for the introduction into general use of any vaccine to prevent COVID-19, an action the Trump administration had previously prevented, the report said on Tuesday.
The FDA's action reduces to virtually zero any possibility that a new vaccine can be introduced before the presidential and national elections on 3 November, the newspaper said.
President Donald Trump after being in the hospital for three days getting treated for COVID-19, in a message a Monday promised that the US would have a vaccine "momentarily."
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Moscow has registered 41 death of patients infected with COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian capital's death toll to 5,442, the city's coronavirus response center said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Another 41 patient, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow," the center said.
In the previous day, 31 people infected with the coronavirus died in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday expressed confidence that Russia would soon develop its third vaccine against COVID-19 during a meeting with leaders of Russian parliamentary factions.
The president reminded lawmakers that the vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Institute, undergoing the third phase of clinical trials, was already registered and is entering public circulation, and hoped that another vaccine, developed by the Novosibirsk-based Vector research centre, would be registered in the coming days.
"These are all the highest world-class vaccines - both the first one and the second one. I am sure that there soon will be a third Russian vaccine", Putin said.
The president emphasized that millions of doses will be needed and pointed out the necessity of organising their mass production.
More than 70 percent of Russian citizens are afraid of getting infected with the novel coronavirus, Valery Fedorov, the director general of the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM), said on Tuesday, citing the results of the Centre’s latest public opinion survey.
"Per the data for 5 October, 15 percent of respondents indicated they are very afraid while 59 percent are somewhat afraid. In total, three fourths [74 percent] are afraid", Fedorov said, while presenting the poll's results at a press conference.
Meanwhile, most Russians also support a shift to remote working as a way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.
"Sixty-three percent of Russians polled support introducing remote work for employees. In Moscow a greater number of respondents are in favour - 74 percent", Fedorov added.
On the likely duration of the pandemic, Fedorov said 26 percent of respondents think it would end within six months; 24 percent think that it will be over in a year, nine percent - in two years, and 10 percent - in three or more years. Those who think it will fizzle out within two or three months are 12 percent. Three percent think it will be over in the coming month.
"Thirty-six percent think that new restrictions should be less severe than during the spring, 16 percent think they should be more severe and 31 percent are fine with reintroducing restrictions following the same scenario as in the spring", the pollster noted.
The VTsIOM poll was conducted on 30 September and 5 October, with 1,600 respondents polled by phone. The margin of error is within 2.5 percent.
Fading recovery prospects for air travel this winter threatens global airlines with a severe cash crunch and further downsizing, unless governments step in to help the industry survive the novel coronavirus pandemic intact, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned in a press release on Tuesday.
"Historically, cash generated during the peak summer season helps to support airlines through the leaner winter months", IATA Director Alexandre de Juniac said in the release. "And with no timetable for governments to reopen borders without travel-killing quarantines, we cannot rely on a year-end holiday season bounce to provide a bit of extra cash to tide us over until the spring".
Existing aid valued at $160 billion is beginning to run out and airlines have already cut costs 50 percent and burned through $51 billion in cash with revenues down nearly 80 percent, the release said.
With the crisis "deeper and longer than any of us could have imagined", IATA predicted airlines will burn through an additional $77 billion in the second half of 2020 and a further $60-70 billion in 2021.
Without additional government aid, IATA said the fallout from industry downsizing could threaten 46 million jobs and global economic losses of $1.8 trillion as the measures to contain the pandemic unleashes an "unforgiving cycle" of further downsizings.
The IATA predicted that airlines would not achieve a positive cash flow until 2022 at the earliest, depending on the course of the pandemic.
The Kremlin does not see that the Russian authorities' response measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus include elements of a potential lockdown and the national economy is not shutting down, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
"You see that there are no elements of a lockdown yet. There have been decisions taken in individual regions regarding holidays. There are recommendations for elderly people who are at risk, but the economy has not closed. Everything is working. This is largely due to the fact that the health care system is in a state of mobilization, which gives us greater resistance to epidemiological threats", Peskov told reporters.
Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, announced on Tuesday that companies and organizations in the Russian capital must provide the information of employees who move to remote work in line with the new guidance. Peskov said that the Kremlin has its own departmental response centre, although he added that data will be shared.
"We at least have our own departmental response centre, and we will provide data on those who are remotely there", Peskov said in response to a journalist's question.
Lockdown measures in Moscow were eased significantly in July. The Russian COVID-19 response centre announced on Tuesday morning that 4,082 new positive tests for the disease had been confirmed in the Russian capital over the preceding 24 hours.
Average daily COVID-19 positivity rate in India has declined from 9.21 percent recorded between 16-22 September to 6.82% from 30 September to 6 October. Active cases have also remained below 1 million for the last 2 weeks; the recovery rate is at 84%, the Indian Health Ministry has said.
India on Tuesday reported 61,267 fresh infections of the novel Coronavirus - lowest daily spike since August. Ten Indian states including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh account for 77 percent of the active cases in the country.
The Irish government has rejected a recommendation of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to return the country to a full lockdown, The Guardian reported.
The government of Japan has agreed to allow business people from South Korea to enter the country without the necessity of spending 14 days in quarantine due to COVID-19 starting 8 October, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
According to the statement, business people planning a short-term stay in Japan of up to 90 days will be exempt from quarantine if they have a negative COVID-19 test result received over the past 72 hours before the entry and the written plan of the trip.
Upon arrival in Japan, an individual will have to undergo another coronavirus test and install an application on a smartphone that will monitor the health condition and movement of a business traveller for 14 days.
During this period, the individual can travel from the place of residence to the place of work only by car in his use.
Long-term visitors from South Korea are required to be tested for COVID-19 upon their arrival and self-isolate for 14 days.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters on Tuesday about the importance of restoring economic ties with South Korea, which has been disrupted by the spread of coronavirus. Japan is South Korea's third-largest trading partner.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Sputnik) - The Brazilian government is extending an entry ban for foreigners into the country through land and maritime borders for another 30 days as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The restriction on the entry of foreigners by road, land, or water transport has been extended for another 30 days over the COVID-19 pandemic", a decree published in the government's Official Journal of the Union read.
The ban on entry by land does not apply to Brazilians, direct relatives of Brazilians, and immigrants with permanent residence permits. Brazil resumed air traffic with other states on 25 September.
