Medical workers prepare for a COVID-19 patient's discharge at the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, July 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
- Wuhan not necessarily where coronavirus crossed from animals into humans: WHO expert
- Prisons infected by COVID-19 threaten nearby communities: research
- Infection rate in Italy has gradually climbed over past month
BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
File photo shows Dr. Michael Ryan(L), executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, addressing a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 18, 2020. (Photo by Chen Junxia/Xinhua)
Although the first clusters of atypical pneumonia were reported in Wuhan, China, it doesn't necessarily mean that is where the COVID-19 disease crossed from animals into humans, a senior World Health Organization expert said on Monday.
Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said at a routine COVID-19 briefing on Monday that a much more "extensive retrospective epidemiological study" should be taken to fully understand the links between the cases.
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BEIJING -- Chinese health authority said Tuesday that it received reports of 36 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Monday, including 30 locally-transmitted ones.
Of the locally-transmitted cases, 28 were reported in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and two in Liaoning Province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.
Photo taken on July 23, 2020 shows a health worker holding a bag of plasma at the facilities of the District Institute of Science and Biotechnology and Innovation in Health in the city of Bogota, Colombia. (Xinhua/Jhon Paz)
BOGOTA -- The Colombian Ministry of Health on Monday raised the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 327,850, with 11,017 deaths.
According to the authorities, tests detected 10,199 new infections and 367 more patients died in the past 24 hours.
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WASHINGTON -- Jails infected by COVID-19 pose a threat not only to prisoners inside but also to people in nearby communities, researchers reported in the journal Health Affairs Monday.
Data suggests more than 4,700 cases of COVID-19 in Illinois up through April 19 were associated with 2,129 individuals going through the Cook County Jail in March, researchers from Harvard University said.
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TRIPOLI -- The National Center for Disease Control of Libya on Tuesday reported 226 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national count to 4,063.
In a statement earlier Tuesday, the center said it had received a total of 1,157 suspected samples, 226 of which tested positive.
A member of staff waits for customers at SoHo in New York, the United States, on July 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
WASHINGTON -- Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in July amid a resurgence in new COVID-19 infections, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported Monday.
The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 54.2 percent in July, up 1.6 percentage points from the June reading. Any reading above 50 percent indicates the manufacturing sector is generally expanding.
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ROME -- Italy's coronavirus infection rate has gradually climbed over the last four weeks with the national reproduction rate climbing near an important threshold, government figures have shown.
Government and health officials urged caution but said the situation remains under control.
People wearing masks walk in the street in Ankara, Turkey on July 30, 2020. (Photo by Shi Yang/Xinhua)
ANKARA -- Turkey reported 995 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total diagnosed cases to 233,851, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
Meanwhile, 19 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,747, Koca tweeted.
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DOHA -- The Qatari health ministry on Monday announced 215 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 111,322, official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
Meanwhile, 223 more recovered from the virus, bringing the total recoveries to 108,002, while the death toll remained 177, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA.
People buy dessert ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival in Beirut, Lebanon, July 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
BEIRUT -- Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Monday by 177 cases to 5,062 while death toll went up by three to 65, the Health Ministry reported.
The country lost on Monday 47-year-old Zaynab Haidar, the first nurse who died from COVID-19 in Lebanon.
The ministry said COVID-19 is spreading quickly in Lebanon as citizens did not take serious measures over the past days with many of them attending public events like weddings and parties. ■
