UK: PM Boris Johnson taken to intensive care
U.S.: cases top 350,000
BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 200 countries and regions.
The following are the updates on the contagious disease.
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A passenger wears a face mask on a subway train in New York, the United States, March 17, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)
NEW YORK -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 350,000 as of 3:30 p.m. local time Monday (1930 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
The fresh figure reached 352,546 with 10,389 deaths, according to the CSSE.
The state of New York recorded 130,689 cases and 4,758 fatalities. Other states with over 10,000 cases include New Jersey, Michigan, California, Louisiana, Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Illinois.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairs a morning COVID-19 update meeting remotely during his self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, in London, Britain, on March 28, 2020. (Andrew Parsons/No 10 Downing Street/Handout via Xinhua)
LONDON -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken to intensive care on Monday night after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, Downing Street said.
Johnson has asked British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputize for him, a Downing Street spokesman said.
The prime minister, 55, was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital in London with "persistent symptoms" on Sunday night, 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus.
The spokesman said the prime minister was moved on the advice of his medical team and is receiving "excellent care."
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GENEVA -- Switzerland reported 552 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, the smallest increase in the past two weeks.
Data shows that this is the fourth day of decline in newly confirmed cases in the country. On April 2, the reported number was 1,128, and the following three days saw a rise of 1,036 cases, 975 and 822 cases, respectively.
The figures from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) showed that as of Monday, there were a total of 21,652 COVID-19 cases in Switzerland, a country with a population of 8.5 million.
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WASHINGTON -- A second U.S. company is poised to begin safety test of a vaccine against COVID-19 on Monday.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals said Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application for INO-4800, its DNA vaccine candidate designed to prevent COVID-19 infection, paving the way for Phase 1 clinical testing in healthy volunteers beginning this week.
The Phase 1 study will enroll up to 40 healthy adult volunteers in Philadelphia and Kansas City, where screening of potential participants has already begun, said the company.
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SAO PAULO -- Brazil's southeast state of Sao Paulo, the most populated and hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, decided to extend lockdown measures through April 22, Governor Joao Doria said on Monday.
"There will be an extension starting Wednesday, April 8 until the 22nd," said Doria, adding measures to step up social distancing could also be announced.
"No gatherings of people will be allowed," said Doria, warning "the police will be able to take action to prevent people from gathering in public places."
Of Brazil's total number of 486 fatalities from the virus as of late Sunday, 275 were in Sao Paulo, which is home to 46 million people.
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A volunteer disinfects a street in Tehran, Iran, on March 31, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)
CAIRO -- The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iran rose by 2,274 to reach 60,500 on Monday, the sixth consecutive day of slowdown in a row.
A total of 3,739 COVID-19 patients have died in Iran as of Monday, and 24,236 have recovered and left hospitals, with 4,083 still in critical condition.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that the government plans to provide loans for 4 million low-income Iranian households to deal with their losses over the COVID-19 outbreak.
In Turkey, the second hardest-hit country in the Middle East, 3,148 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday, bringing the total number to 30,217, and the death toll surged to 649.
A total of 1,415 patients are treated in intensive care units and 966 more are intubated, he said, noting the total recoveries are 1,326.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey will build two hospitals in the country's biggest city Istanbul for COVID-19 patients.
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GENEVA -- World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said here on Monday that Africa will not become testing ground for any vaccines against COVID-19.
"Africa cannot and will not be a testing ground for any vaccine. We will follow all the rules to test any vaccine or therapeutics all over the world using exactly the same rule, whether it's in Europe, Africa or wherever," Tedros told a virtual briefing in Geneva.
"Appalled" by comments made last week by some scientists, who said the testing ground for the new vaccines will be Africa, Tedros said "the hangover from a colonial mentality has to stop." ■