BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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TEHRAN -- Iran announced on Tuesday 5,039 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, the country's highest daily record so far, taking the total number of cases to 539,670, official news agency IRNA reported.
Among the new cases, 2,254 had to be hospitalized, Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said during her daily briefing.
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THE HAGUE -- The number of COVID-19 infections in the Netherlands continued to rise, up by over 8,000 cases in the past 24 hours, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said on Tuesday.
The number of reported infections in the past day was 8,182, compared to 8,011 on from Sunday to Monday. Meanwhile, 46 people died in the past 24 hours, up from 17 reported in the previous day.
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TOKYO -- Japan confirmed 483 new daily COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the nationwide cumulative total to 94,015 infections, not including those connected to a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo earlier in the year.
Of the 483 new infections, the Tokyo metropolitan government reported 139 new cases. The capital with a population of 14 million has been the hardest hit by the pneumonia-causing virus of all of Japan's 47 prefectures, with a cumulative total of 29,185 infections.
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YANGON -- The total number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has increased to 38,502 as of Tuesday, according to a statement from the Health and Sports Ministry.
On Tuesday, 1,306 more people tested positive for COVID-19 and 31 new deaths were reported, the statement said.
As of Tuesday, the death toll of the disease has risen to 945, while 18,147 recovered patients have been allowed to be discharged from the hospitals.
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NAIROBI -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has appealed to the global community not to allow the fight against COVID-19 interfere with efforts to eradicate malaria, polio, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases in Africa.
Kenyatta who spoke on Monday evening in Nairobi during this year's End Malaria Annual Council meeting convened virtually by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said success stories and lessons from the global COVID-19 response should be harnessed and applied in the battle against these diseases to hasten their eradication.
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BEIJING -- China's total annual production capacity of COVID-19 vaccines will likely reach 610 million doses by the end of the year, a Chinese official said on Tuesday.
The production capacity will continue to expand next year to meet the demand for COVID-19 vaccines in China and other countries, said Zheng Zhongwei, with the National Health Commission, at a news conference in Beijing.
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BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Tuesday 3,920 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide infections to 434,598.
The new cases included 1,303 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 445 in Duhok, 305 in Erbil, 260 in Sulaimaniyah, and 241 in Wasit, while the other cases were detected in the other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.
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GENEVA -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has surpassed 40 million, the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed.
WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard showed that globally, as of 11:47 a.m. CEST Tuesday, 40,114,293 confirmed cases, including 1,114,692 deaths, had been reported to WHO.
It's only some one month after WHO reported 30 million COVID-19 cases worldwide on Sept. 18. Enditem
