Global cases top 8.7 mln : Johns Hopkins University

The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

21 June BEIJING : NEW YORK — Global confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 8.7 million on Saturday, reaching 8,703,274 as of 12:33 p.m. (1633 GMT), according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 461,037 worldwide, the data showed.
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PARIS — France on Saturday saw the death toll from the coronavirus rise to 29,633 with 16 additional deaths registered in the last 24 hours, data released by the National Public Health Agency showed. In total, 9,837 people remain hospitalized for COVID-19 infection, 133 fewer from a day earlier. The number of those who needed to be put on ventilator fell to 715 from 727 registered on Friday.
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JERUSALEM — The number of coronavirus patients in Israel rose to 20,633, with 294 new cases, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday. According to the ministry, the number of death cases rose from 304 to 305, while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 39 to 40, out of 192 patients currently hospitalized.
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MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the country in a televised speech on Saturday on the eve of lifting its State of Alarm that “Now it’s time for recovery.”Spain will enter on Sunday what Sanchez calls the “new normality”, with visitor arrivals from the European Union countries and Schengen regions no longer required to undergo two-week quarantine, while travel between Spain’s 17 Autonomous Communities is resumed.

SANTIAGO — The Chilean Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that a total of 236,748 cases of COVID-19 have been registered so far, with 4,295 deaths. According to the ministry, 5,355 new cases and 202 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry announced on Saturday the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on all the kingdom’s cities starting from Sunday morning.The decision to return to “normalcy” will be effective on June 21, including the return of all economic and commercial activities, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

BEIJING — An inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Institute of Medical Biology under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences has entered phase-2 clinical trials in China, the Science and Technology Daily reported Saturday.
The phase-2 trials, which further evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the vaccine in humans, are conducted in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

ROME — The number of new infections from the novel coronavirus in Italy was 262, up from 251 reported on Friday but down from Thursday’s 333, Italy’s Civil Protection Department said on Saturday. The total active infections decreased to 21,212 over the past 24 hours.