* A rapid antibody test kit for COVID-19 was reported Friday to be successfully developed in Singapore, which can produce results in 15 minutes. The test kit was jointly developed by MP Biomedicals Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., a diagnostic corporation and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore, according to a joint press release.
* The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Friday, with the total rising by 284,196 in 24 hours. Deaths rose by 9,753, the biggest one-day increase since a record high of 9,797 deaths on April 30. The WHO reported 69,641 new cases in the United States, 67,860 in Brazil, 49,310 in India and 13,104 in South Africa. The largest increases in new deaths were 3,876 in Peru, 1,284 in Brazil, 1,074 in the United States, 790 in Mexico and 740 in India.
* Chinese health authority said Saturday (July 25) that it received reports of 34 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Friday, 29 of which were domestically transmitted. No deaths related to the disease were reported Friday, the commission said. As of Friday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 83,784, including 261 patients who were still being treated, with 11 in severe condition. Altogether 78,889 people had been discharged after recovery, and 4,634 had died of the disease.
* The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reported 4,024,492 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 72,219 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 1,113 to 143,868.
* Brazil registered an additional 1,156 deaths attributable to the novel coronavirus over the last 24 hours and another 55,891 confirmed cases, the health ministry said on Friday. The South American nation has now registered 85,238 deaths and 2,343,366 total confirmed cases.
* Russia on Saturday reported 5,871 new coronavirus cases and 146 more deaths from the respiratory disease. The nationwide tally of infections has risen to 806,720, Russia's coronavirus crisis response centre said. The death toll now stands at 13,192, and 597,140 people have recovered.
* Mexico's Health Ministry on Friday reported 7,573 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 737 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 378,285 cases and 42,645 total deaths. The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
* Coronavirus lockdowns for parts of the Chilean capital Santiago will be gradually lifted from Tuesday, July 28, Health Minister Enrique Paris said on Friday. Nationwide, the number of cases and hospitalizations have continued to fall over successive days, health authorities said. On Friday, they confirmed 341,304 cases and 8,914 deaths.
* Republic of Korea (ROK) reported 113 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the largest single-day increase in almost four months, and officials warned the upward trajectory could continue as people carrying the disease enter the country from abroad. More than three-quarters of the latest reported infections were imported, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. The ROK has reported a total of 14,092 cases and 298 deaths from the pandemic. Saturday's 113 infections was the highest since March 31.
* The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Bulgaria passed 10,000 on Saturday, as the Balkan country reported 270 infections in the past 24 hours, official data showed. Eight people had died from the virus overnight, taking the official death toll to 337. Total infections stand at 10,123. Some 5,252 people have recovered, data from the official coronavirus information platform showed.
* The Czech Republic reported 15,081 cases of coronavirus as of July 24 as authorities reinstated measures to curb the spread of the virus, which has spiked in the past week. Czechs will have to wear face masks when attending indoor events with more than 100 persons present from Saturday as the daily number of confirmed cases surpassed 150 in the last five days and Prague was trying to contain an outbreak from a club.
* The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 781 to 204,964, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. The reported death toll rose by 7 to 9,118, the tally showed.
* No new case of COVID-19 was reported in New Zealand, said the Ministry of Health in a statement on Saturday. It has been 85 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source, said the ministry statement. The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 remained at 1,206, which was the number New Zealand report to the World Health Organization, it is said.
* Security was tight outside the US consulate in the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday as staff inside prepared to leave, a day after China ordered it to close in response to a US order for China to shut its consulate in Houston. The tit-for-tat consulate closures have brought a sharp deterioration in relations between the world's two largest economies.
* The United States and Russia next week will conduct their first formal, bilateral talks on space security since 2013, following a US allegation that Russia tested a space-based anti-satellite weapon this month, a US official said on Friday.
* According to Russian arrangements, a formal meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs will be held in early September, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday.
* Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to become a hurricane before making landfall along the Texas coast either on Saturday afternoon or early evening, the US National Hurricane Center said on Friday. The cyclone is getting better organized over the western Gulf of Mexico as hurricane and storm surge warnings were issued for portions of the central Texas coast, it said.
* Israeli helicopters targeted three outposts in the Quneitra area of southwest Syria with anti-tank guided missiles, causing two injuries and some fires, the Syrian state news agency reported on Friday, quoting a military source.
