World News in Brief: July 7

The World Health Organization on Tuesday recommended using arthritis drugs Actemra from Roche and Kevzara from Sanofi with corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients after data from some 11,000 patients showed they cut the risk of death.

People wait for observation after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Rome, Italy, on July 6, 2021. Vaccination efforts kept going across Italy. Over 54 million doses of authorized vaccines have been administered so far, and over 21 million people, which account for more than 39 percent of the country's population over 12, have been fully immunized, according to the latest official data. (Photo: Xinhua)
People wait for observation after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Rome, Italy, on July 6, 2021. Vaccination efforts kept going across Italy. Over 54 million doses of authorized vaccines have been administered so far, and over 21 million people, which account for more than 39 percent of the country's population over 12, have been fully immunized, according to the latest official data. (Photo: Xinhua)

* More than 1.33 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in China as of Tuesday, the National Health Commission announced on Wednesday.

* India's COVID-19 tally rose to 30,663,665 on Wednesday as 43,733 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data. Besides, 930 deaths due to the pandemic since Tuesday morning took the total death toll to 404,211.

* Cuba set a new record for COVID-19 cases in one day, after reporting 3,591 infections on Tuesday, for a total of 210,913. Director of hygiene and epidemiology of the Public Health Ministry Francisco Duran said during his daily report that there were also 15 deaths in the last day, bringing the death toll to 1,387.

* US President Joe Biden encouraged Americans who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get their shots to protect themselves from the widely spreading, highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.

* Thailand's economy faced significant downside risks and limited policy room should be preserved to be used for the most effective time, the central bank's minutes of its last meeting showed on Wednesday.

* Indonesia applied new stricter COVID-19 restrictions in 43 cities or districts on Wednesday outside the country's most populated island of Java and resort island of Bali amid the second COVID-19 wave in the country, a senior minister said.

* Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Republic of Korea logged a double-digit growth in the first half of this year on expectations for global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic shock, a government report showed Wednesday.

* The premier of Australia's New South Wales state on Wednesday ordered a week-long extension of Sydney's COVID-19 lockdown, warning new cases are bound to rise as the country's biggest city grapples with the highly infectious Delta variant.

* People who are fully vaccinated will not have to self-isolate if they are a close contact of a coronavirus case from Aug. 16, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Tuesday.

* Republic of Korea reported its second highest number of daily new COVID-19 cases ever on Wednesday, just days after it began easing social distancing restrictions in some parts of the country.

* New Zealand said its health regulator Medsafe has given provisional approval for a coronavirus vaccine developed by Janssen, the pharmaceutical unit of Johnson & Johnson.

* Mexican health authorities reported on Tuesday the biggest jump in new daily coronavirus infections since late February.

* Tunisia on Tuesday reported a daily record of nearly 8,000 coronavirus cases and 119 deaths.

* Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas on Tuesday met in Tallinn with her Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez to discuss issues concerning bilateral relations, defense cooperation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and migration policy.

* Travelers fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or with proof of having recovered from the disease, can enter Finland without any additional tests from Monday, the Finnish government said at a press conference on Tuesday.

* Chile reported on Tuesday 1,885 new COVID-19 infections in 24 hours, the lowest number since Dec. 27 when 1,711 daily cases were reported. On Thursday, Chile will lift the lockdown on the Santiago Metropolitan Region, after it reported a significant drop in the positivity rate.

* Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday expressed the hope that peace will be achieved soon between Israel and Palestine, during a phone talk with outgoing Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin.

* Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and visiting Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto on Tuesday called for forming the East African Federation, a proposed political union of the East African Community (EAC).

* Taliban militants' attack on Taluqan city the capital of Afghanistan's northern Takhar province has been repulsed and the militants fled away after leaving 15 bodies behind, provincial government said in a statement on Wednesday.

* The confirmed death toll in the partial collapse of a 12-story residential building in Surfside, southeastern US state Florida, has risen to 36, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at an evening news briefing on Tuesday. There are 109 "reports of people who are potentially unaccounted for," the mayor said.

Xinhua,Reuters