BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil has seen over 1,000 daily deaths from COVID-19 for three days in a row, the health ministry said Thursday.
The country reported 1,238 more deaths and 22,765 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 47,748 and total number of infections to 978,142, with a mortality rate of 4.9 percent, the ministry said.
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CAPE TOWN -- South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Thursday urged South Africans to prepare for "a heavy storm" as COVID-19 cases continued to rise.
The minister made the appeal as the COVID-19 death toll in the country hit 1,737, up 63 from Wednesday.
A total of 3,488 cases have been reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide count to 83,890, according to local health authorities.
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BEIJING -- Chinese health authority said Friday that it received reports of 32 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Thursday, of which 28 were domestically transmitted and four were imported.
Of the domestically transmitted cases, 25 cases were reported in Beijing, two in Hebei Province, and one in Liaoning Province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.
No deaths related to the disease were reported Thursday, according to the commission.
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WASHINGTON -- A new genetic analysis of COVID-19 patients suggests that blood type might influence whether someone develops severe COVID-19, according to the latest study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The study, involving researchers in Italy, Spain, Denmark, Germany and other countries, compared about 2,000 patients in Europe with severe COVID-19 to several thousand other people who were healthy or who had only mild or no symptoms.
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CAIRO -- Egypt reported on Thursday 1,218 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total cases registered in the country since mid-February to 50,437, said Egyptian Health Ministry.
Egypt and China have been cooperating closely in fighting the pandemic.
In early February, Egypt provided aid to China to help with its fight against COVID-19 and China later returned favor by sending three batches of medical aid to the North African country, the latest of which was in mid-May.
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JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Ministry of Health reported 253 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total infections in Israel to 20,036.
The death toll from the coronavirus remained at 303, while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 36 to 38, out of 146 patients currently hospitalized. Enditem
