BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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BEIJING -- Nationwide tests of food for COVID-19, launched by China in June, had produced only negative results as of Thursday, a health official said at a press conference on Friday.
Zhang Zhiqiang, from the Chinese National Health Commission, said the tests were launched after the COVID-19 outbreak at Beijing's Xinfadi market in June.
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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi confirmed on Friday evening that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and quarantined himself at home.
The foreign minister announced it at Twitter, saying "this afternoon I felt a slight fever and immediately quarantined myself at home. I have now tested positive for COVID-19."
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LONDON -- Passengers returning from certain destinations, including France, Germany and Belgium, will no longer need to self-isolate when arriving in England, the British Department for Transport announced Friday.
The previously announced coronavirus regulations required passengers to self-isolate for 14 days when they return to Britain from a country outside the common travel area, which covers Britain, the Crown Dependencies (Bailiwick of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and Ireland.
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BEIJING -- More than 10.41 million residents in Beijing had received nucleic acid tests as of Thursday since the resurgence of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, local authorities said on Friday.
Test results from about 10.06 million people had come back, Zhang Qiang, deputy head of the Organization Department of Beijing Municipal Party Committee, said at a press conference.
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LONDON -- Britain's service sector bounced back to a four-month high in June after a steep downturn between April and May caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a report jointly published by IHS MARKIT/CIPS said Friday.
The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the service sector rose to 47.1 in June, up from 29.0 in May and record-low of 13.4 in April, albeit still under the neutral 50.0 threshold, showed the data.
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KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwait on Friday reported 813 new COVID-19 cases and one more death, raising the tally of infections to 48,672 and the death toll to 360, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Currently, 9,036 patients are receiving treatment, including 144 in ICU, the statement added.
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NEW DELHI -- Commercial international flights to and from India shall remain suspended until July 31, the country's civil aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced Friday.
"In partial modification of circular dated 26-06-2020, the competent authority has extended the validity of circular issued on the subject -- Travel and Visa restrictions related to COVID-19 -- regarding scheduled international commercial passenger services to and from India till 31, July 2020," the order issued by DGCA said. Enditem
