Coronavirus: Death toll crosses 3,000 in China, cases surpass 100,000 globally
Beijing: China has reported 28 new fatalities from the deadly coronavirus outbreak, taking the death toll in the country to 3,070, Chinese health officials said on Saturday as the rapid spread of the epidemic hit a milestone, infecting more than 100,000 people globally.
The virus that first emerged in China in December last year has spread to 97 countries and has infected 102,180 people, including 80,651 in China, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus tracker.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) on Saturday said it received reports of 99 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 28 deaths on Friday on the Chinese mainland.
The 28 deaths were all reported in the virus epicentre Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, the NHC said.
Meanwhile, 99 new suspected cases were reported it said, a significant milestone in China's over two-month-long fight against the dreaded virus as the cases have for the first time dropped below 100.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland have reached 80,651 by the end of Friday. This included 3,070 people who had died of the virus, 22,177 patients still undergoing treatment and 55,404 others who were discharged after recovery, the NHC said.
Also on Friday, 24 imported cases (people coming to China from abroad) of the novel coronavirus infection were reported on the mainland, including 17 in Gansu Province, three in Beijing, three in Shanghai and one in Guangdong Province. By the end of Friday, 60 imported cases were reported, the NHC said.
By the end of Friday, 107 confirmed cases, including two deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 45 in Taiwan, including one death have been reported.
While the cases of the COVID-19 in China are on the decline about 19,700 more cases were reported globally taking the overall total of the cases, including from China to over a lakh, state-run CGTN reported.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday that additional five countries -- the Philippines, New Zealand, Ireland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia -- have seen local transmission of the COVID-19.
Outside China, a total of 97 countries and regions have reported.
Bhutan, Cameroon, Serbia and South Africa have reported cases of the COVID-19 for the first time in the past 24 hours as of Friday morning, the WHO report said.
Meanwhile, Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme said there is no evidence right now suggesting the COVID-19 will disappear in summer, urging countries to fight the new virus decisively at the current stage.
"We do not know yet what the activity or behaviour of the virus will be in different climatic conditions," Ryan said, warning against the assumption that the virus would just disappear on its own in the summertime like influenza.
"We have to assume the virus will continue to have the capacity to spread," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
Besides, Ryan stressed the disease can emerge anywhere on the planet, for instance, Ebola very often emerged in Africa, while the last pandemic influenza H1N1 emerged in North America.
He called on countries and societies to avoid "blame culture" and to do all the things needed to save lives, he said. According to the tracker, in the US, at least 299 cases of coronavirus have been detected and 14 people have died due to it.
In Italy, 4,636 have been detected and 197 have died. In Iran, 4,747 cases of the COVID-19 have been reported and 124 people have died.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
