Turkey set for first human trial of its virus vaccine – latest updates

Friday, October 9, 2020

Turkey to register first human vaccine trial

Turkey will register its first human vaccine trial for the novel coronavirus probably in two weeks, the country's health minister has said.

"The subjects will be given the first dose after being kept in quarantine for five days and undergoing all necessary examinations," Fahrettin Koca said at a news conference in the southern Adana province.

On the virus situation in Turkey, the minister urged people not to let down their guard and continue following Covid-19 safety rules.

He said the number of virus cases is dropping in all Turkish cities except Istanbul.

He asserted that Turkey has proven that it has an exceptional public health system, with its success during the pandemic also being hailed as an example by the World Health Organization.

Turkey reported 1,402 more recoveries from coronavirus, 55 new fatalities, and 1,629 new patients in the past 24 hours, Koca said.

WHO reports new daily high in global Covid-19 cases

The World Health Organization has announced a record in new daily coronavirus cases confirmed worldwide, with more than 350,000 reported to the UN health agency.

The new daily high surpasses a record set earlier this week by nearly 12,000 infections. 

In a press briefing, WHO's emergencies chief Dr Michael Ryan acknowledged that even as Covid-19 continues to surge across the world, "there are no new answers."

He said that although the agency wants countries to avoid the punishing lockdowns that have devastated economies, governments must ensure the most vulnerable people are protected and that numerous measures must be taken.

French infections at over 20,000 per day

The number of new coronavirus infections in France has jumped over 20,000 in one day for the first time since the start of the epidemic, the health ministry has said.

The ministry reported 20,330 new infections, taking the cumulative total to 691,977 since the start of the year. 

In the past two days, the ministry had reported more than 18,000 daily new confirmed Covid-19 cases.

The number of deaths from the virus increased by 109 to32,630, the highest in a week but below highs of around 150 seen earlier this month. 

The death toll figures can be skewed as the ministry often reports several days of senior citizen residence data in one batch.

White House 'to propose' $1.8T stimulus plan

With the presidential election fast approaching, the White House is preparing a $1.8 trillion economic rescue plan to try to coax congressional Democrats into an agreement, according to media reports.

President Donald Trump this week has veered wildly in his position on stimulus to help the economy recover from the damage done by the Covid-19 pandemic, but now seems to be making a major push to roll out funding before his November 3 bid for re-election.

The new proposal, an improvement over the administration's previous $1.6 billion offer, brings them closer to the Democrats' latest package costing $2.2 trillion.

"The president has approved a revised package," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said. "I think we are moving in the right direction. The gap is narrowing."

Virus was downplayed at Austria resort

Authorities in the Austrian state of Tyrol may have downplayed a notorious coronavirus outbreak in one of its ski resorts in March. 

Ischgl, known for its lively apres-ski scene, was at the centre of an outbreak of the coronavirus in Tyrol in which more than 6,000 tourists from 45 countries say they became infected.

State officials have repeatedly said that no mistakes were made in handling the outbreak in Ischgl, one of Austria's most lucrative and prestigious ski resorts and that authorities acted correctly according to the information they had at the time.

The public prosecutor's department in Tyrol is investigating the events at the resort and has declined to comment publicly on the probe.

Italy 'second wave' fears grow as virus cases top 5,000

Italy is grappling with fears of a second coronavirus wave similar to the ones seen in Britain, France, and Spain, as it registered over 5,000 new infections in 24 hours.

"We're under extreme pressure," the World Health Organization's Italian government adviser Walter Ricciardi said, warning that spaces in Covid-19 hospitals were running out in the worst-hit regions.

Italy registered 5,372 new cases, the health ministry said, nearly 1,000 more than on Thursday. 

The country has not seen such high numbers of recorded new infections since mid-April.

Poland sees four consecutive records in daily cases

Poland has reported a record daily rise in coronavirus cases for the fourth consecutive day, with 4,739 new infections, as the country readies for a renewal of some restrictions.

Wearing masks outside will be compulsory across the whole of Poland from October 10, when a tightening of restrictions in schools is expected to be announced. 

On Thursday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki did not rule out introducing a state of emergency if cases continue to grow.

In total, the country of 38 million has reported 116,338 infections and 2,919 deaths in the pandemic. 

The biggest spike in new cases was reported in southeast Poland, where hospitals are running out of Covid-19 beds, according to local media reports.

Two more under-21 players test positive for virus in Italy

Two more players in Italy's under-21 squad have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total to four this week.

The Italian football federation (FIGC) said in a statement that one member of staff also returned in a positive result in the latest tests which were carried out at the airport on Thursday before the squad left for Reykjavik for a European under-21 championship qualifier against Iceland.

One of the players had symptoms and was being constantly monitored, it added. None of those who tested positive had left Italy.

Russia expected to register second Covid-19 vaccine 

Russia is expected to register a second potential vaccine against Covid-19 on October 15, the vaccine's developer said.

The vaccine has been developed by Siberia's Vector Institute, which completed early-stage human trials of the vaccine last month. 

Indonesia reports over 4,000 new virus cases

Indonesia has reported 4,094 new virus infections taking the total number of cases to 324,658.

The country's task force data showed 97 new deaths from the virus, taking the total number of fatalities to 11,677.

Philippines confirms 83 virus deaths

The Philippines' health ministry has reported 2,996 new virus infections and 83 deaths.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases in the Philippines have increased to 334,770, the highest toll in Southeast Asia, and fatalities to 6,152. 

Virus cases in Bulgaria hit new daily high record

Bulgaria has reported 516 new virus cases on, breaking the daily high record since the start of the pandemic in March for a third consecutive day.

The Balkan country has now 23,279 cases, including 880 deaths, official data showed. A total of 1,063 people are hospitalised and 56 are in intensive care, data from the coronavirus information platform showed.

Despite the surge in infections in past days, the health minister said the country was still doing relatively well compared to other European Union countries hit by a second Covid-19 wave and ruled out imposing new restrictions for now. 

Ukraine reports record daily high of 5,804 new virus cases

Ukraine has registered a record 5,804 virus cases in the past 24 hours, up from a previous record of 5,397 new cases reported.

The daily tally in Ukraine climbed to a record level for the third day in a row.

The total number of cases  are now 250,538 with 4,779 deaths, including 89 in the past 24 hours, the national security council said.

The spike in new infections prompted the government to extend lockdown measures until the end of October.

China to purchase COVAX vaccines for 1 percent of population

China will purchase coronavirus vaccines via the global COVAX programme for 1 percent of its population.

The move shows China's participation in the programme and accommodates interests of other countries, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a news briefing.

Germany's confirmed virus cases rise by 4,516 

The number of confirmed virus cases in Germany has increased by 4,516 in another record singe-day rise since reaching peak levels in March and April earlier this year.

The latest cases take the country's total to 314,660 infections, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed.

The reported death toll rose by 11, the tally showed. 

Czech Republic's daily virus cases rise to 5,394

The Czech Republic's daily count of the new coronavirus has risen to 5,394, the third record tally in a row, as the country tightened anti-pandemic measures in an attempt to curb the recent surge.

The overall number of cases reached 100,757 in the country of 10.7 million and 869 people have died in connection with the Covid-19 illness, Health Ministry data showed.

India's coronavirus infections rise by 70,496 

India's total virus cases have risen by 70,496 in the last 24 hours to 6.91 million, data from the health ministry showed.

Deaths from virus infections rose by 964 to 106,490, the ministry said.

India's death toll from the virus rose past 100,000, only the third country in the world to reach that bleak milestone, after the United States and Brazil, and its epidemic shows no sign of abating. 

Australia records second day without virus death

Australia has reported its second straight day without any virus deaths, the longest stretch without any fatalities from the virus in three months.

Australian states and territories reported 16 cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, down from 28 on Thursday, and no deaths for two days, the first time Australia has gone 48 hours without a virus death since July 11.

The results cement optimism that Australia has contained a second wave of virus infections.

The country's second most populous state Victoria, the epicentre of Australia's virus outbreak, said they now have less than 200 active infections.

Sri Lanka struggles to contain virus

Sri Lankan health authorities are working to contain a growing cluster of new coronavirus infections, ordering the closure of bars, restaurants, casinos, nightclubs and spas.

The Indian Ocean island nation over the weekend reported its first locally transmitted infection in more than two months, which led to the discovery of a cluster centred around a garment factory in densely populated Western province.

By Friday the number of infections linked to the cluster climbed to 1,053, with more than 2,000 more people asked to quarantine at home. The majority of infected people are co-workers of the first patient, who is a worker at the garment factory.

Gilead says antiviral remdesivir speeds up recovery time

Final data from Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir has shown the treatment cut Covid-19 recovery time by five days compared with patients who got a placebo, one day faster than indicated in preliminary data. 

Gilead’s drug was among the first to be used as a treatment for the virus and was one of the drugs recently used to treat US President Donald Trump.

Remdesivir received emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration on May 1 and has since been authorised for use in several other countries.

Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat tests positive 

Long-time chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, one of the most prominent Palestinian leaders on the world stage, has tested positive for the virus.

A statement on Twitter from the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee released a statement on Twitter about his health condition, wishing him "a speedy recovery."

The 65-year-old has been a key figure in Palestinian politics for decades, often serving as the main interlocutor for foreign envoys and the international media.

Morocco reports record spike in daily cases

Morocco's virus death toll has risen to 2,486 after 47 new fatalities were reported. 

The country's Health Ministry reported 2,929 new infections, the highest single-day numbers since the beginning of the pandemic, bringing the tally to 142,953.

Mexico's virus death toll tops 83,000

Mexico's Health Ministry has reported 5,300 new cases and 370 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 804,488 infections and 83,096 deaths.

The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

China joins COVAX vaccine facility

China says it has formally joined the global vaccine facility known as COVAX, becoming the biggest economy to back the initiative to date.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement that China has ample vaccine manufacturing capabilities and will prioritise supplying developing countries when vaccines are ready.

The COVAX Facility, led by the World Health Organization, aims to deliver at least 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2021.

Meanwhile, mainland China reported 21 new cases, up from 11 a day earlier. 

The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China now stands at 85,521, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.