BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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WASHINGTON -- Robert O'Brien, national security advisor for U.S. President Donald Trump, has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.
O'Brien has been out of the office since late last week, Bloomberg's news outlet reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the situation.
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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed to the people on Monday to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) formed by the government in the upcoming Eid al-Adha festival to avoid a rebound of COVID-19.
In a televised address to the nation, the prime minister said that Pakistan had witnessed a substantial drop in new COVID-19 cases in recent days, but he warned about a spike in infected cases if people do not ensure strict compliance with the SOPs during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha which will be celebrated in Pakistan on Aug.
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BEIJING -- China's central government will provide all necessary support for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to fight the COVID-19 epidemic, a spokesperson said Monday.
The central government pays high attention to the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases in HKSAR and is highly concerned about the health and safety of Hong Kong residents, said a spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.
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ADDIS ABABA -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 846,311 on Monday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU) Commission, said that the number of deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic rose to 17,747 as of Monday morning.
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MINSK -- Belarus reported 119 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking its tally to 67,251, according to the country's health ministry.
There have been 67 new recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 60,492, the ministry added.
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TEHRAN -- Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiee has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.
Rabiee's weekly press conference has been canceled as he was hospitalized for further treatment, said the report.
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KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwait on Monday reported 606 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 64,379 and the death toll to 438, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Currently, 8,884 patients are receiving treatment, including 121 in ICU, the statement added.
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TAIPEI -- Four people tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan on Monday, raising the island's total number of COVID-19 cases to 462, the local epidemic monitoring agency said.
Three of the new patients had returned from Africa via Dubai and were sent to the hospital upon their arrival at the airport, the agency said in a press release.
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YEREVAN -- Armenia on Monday reported 73 new COVID-19 cases in the past day, bringing its total to 37,390, according to the National Center for Disease Control.
Data from the center showed that 187 more patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 26,665.
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DALIAN -- A total of 1.68 million people have been sampled for nucleic acid tests in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, since the city began large-scale testing on Sunday following reports of new COVID-19 cases.
On Sunday alone, more than 1.25 million samples were collected in the city.
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HANOI -- Vietnam reported 11 new cases of COVID-19 infection in the community on Monday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 431 with zero death so far, according to the country's Ministry of Health.
The 11 new cases included local residents of central Da Nang city and patients and staff of Da Nang Hospital, said the ministry, noting that they aged 24 to 70.
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TEHRAN -- Iran's confirmed novel coronavirus cases rose to 293,606 on Monday after an overnight registration of 2,434 new infections, state TV reported.
At her daily briefing, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said out of the new cases in the past 24 hours, 1,436 have been hospitalized. Enditem
