Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have collectively reported 54 coronavirus cases and one death, according to the government's Covid-19 portal.

During the past 24 hours, the capital reported 27 cases and one death, AJK recorded seven cases and GB reported 20 cases.

Punjab has reported 150 coronavirus cases and two deaths during the past 24 hours, according to the government's Covid-19 portal.

With the new cases, the provincial total has risen to 94,865 while the death toll is 2,179.

Pakistan has reported 867 coronavirus recoveries during the past 24 hours, according to the government's portal for tracking the spread of the virus in the country.

With the new recoveries, the total has risen to 264,060.

A puzzling new outbreak of the coronavirus in New Zealand’s largest city has grown to to 17 cases, with officials saying the number will likely increase further.

And a lockdown in Auckland designed to extinguish the outbreak could be extended well beyond an initial three days, according to an AP report.

The source of the new infections continues to stump officials. Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said genome testing has not yet matched the new cluster with any infections that have been caught at the border, although the testing has indicated the strain of the virus may have come from Australia or Britain.

Mexico’s health ministry has reported 5,858 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 737 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 498,380 cases and 54,666 deaths.

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

Australia is poised to post its lowest one-day rise in new Covid-19 cases in more than three weeks, stoking hopes that a second wave of new infections gripping Victoria state is finally being brought under control.

According to Reuters, Victoria reported 278 new infections in the past 24 hours, down from 410 a day earlier. Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW) reported 12 new cases, while Queensland state said it has found no new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours.

Barring a large rise in cases from states that have a effectively eliminated the virus, that means Australia’s total of 290 cases would be the lowest one-day rise in new coronavirus cases since July 20.

Balochistan has reported 88 new cases of the novel coronavirus, raising the provincial tally to 12,044.

The daily situation report stated that no new death had been reported due to the virus in the last 24 hours. The death toll stands at 138.

The World Health Organisation says it is looking forward to reviewing clinical trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine developed in Russia.

Russia's vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya research institute and the defence ministry, is among the 28 in clinical evaluation but is listed by the WHO as only being in Phase 1.

“WHO is in touch with Russian scientists and authorities, and looks forward to reviewing details of the trials,” the United Nations health agency said in a statement.

“WHO welcomes all advances in Covid-19 vaccine research and development.”

South Korea has opened a high-tech new front in the battle against coronavirus, fortifying bus shelters with temperature-checking doors and ultraviolet disinfection lamps, AFP reports.

Ten advanced facilities have been installed in a northeastern district of Seoul, offering protection from monsoon rains, summer heat, and the novel coronavirus.

To enter, passengers must stand in front of an automated thermal-imaging camera, and the door will only slide open if their temperature is below 37.5 degrees Celsius.

A separate camera is installed lower down to test children.

Inside the glass-walled booths — which cost about 100 million Won ($84,000) each — the air-conditioning systems have ultraviolet lamps installed to kill viruses at the same time as cooling the air.

A dispenser provides hand sanitiser, and users are advised to wear face masks at all times, while keeping at least one metre apart from others.

The grandmother of Brazil's first lady has died after more than a month fighting Covid-19 in a public hospital on the outskirts of Brasilia.

Maria Aparecida Firmo Ferreira, 80, was the grandmother of Michelle Bolsonaro, who is married to Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro. She had been hospitalised since July 1, having tested positive for the coronavirus.

President Bolsonaro and Michelle Bolsonaro were diagnosed with Covid-19 last month. The president, who has recovered, has consistently downplayed the severity of the virus.

Germany's leading infectious disease institute has said a first vaccine against the coronavirus could be available as early as autumn but warned that it may take longer to control the pandemic.

“Preliminary projections make the availability of one or several vaccines seem possible by autumn 2020,” the Robert Koch Institute said in a statement on its website, citing a global effort to bring immunisations to market.

“It would be dangerous at this point to trust that a vaccination from autumn 2020 can control the pandemic,” it cautioned.

The impact of any vaccine could be limited because of viral mutations or because first products to market may offer only short-term immunity, the institute added.

A city in China’s eastern Anhui province found the novel coronavirus on the packaging of shrimps from Ecuador, state media reported, in the latest instance of the virus being detected on imported products.

The coronavirus was found on the outer packaging of frozen shrimps bought by a restaurant in Wuhu city when local authorities carried out a routine inspection, CCTV, China’s state television, said.

The news broke a day after a port city in eastern Shandong province said it found the virus on the packaging of imported frozen seafood, although it did not say where it originated.

Washington's health chief expressed scepticism about Russia's claim of developing the world's first safe coronavirus vaccine, pointing to the lack of data from its initial trials, according to AFP.

Moscow said its vaccine offered “sustainable immunity” against the virus, but Western scientists have previously raised concerns about the development speed of Russian treatments, suggesting researchers were cutting corners.

US Health Secretary Alex Azar echoed those concerns as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Taiwan.

“It's important that we provide safe, effective vaccines and that the data be transparent [...] This is not a race to be first,” he told reporters during a conference call.

Sindh has reported 373 coronavirus cases and seven deaths during the past 24 hours, according to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

In a statement, he said that 7,870 tests had been conducted during the past 24 hours. With the new cases, the total has risen to 124,929 while the death toll is 2,297.

The chief minister added that another 335 patients had also recovered during this period.

New Zealand officials are investigating the possibility that its first Covid-19 cases in more than three months were imported by freight, as the country’s biggest city plunged back into lockdown.

“We are working hard to put together pieces of the puzzle on how the family got infected,” said Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.

Investigations were zeroing in on the potential the virus was imported by freight. Bloomfield said surface testing was underway at an Auckland cool store where a man from the infected family worked.

“We know the virus can survive within refrigerated environments for quite some time,” Bloomfield said during a televised media conference.

Read the full Reuters story here.

Wearing a face mask became compulsory in all public places in Brussels as the number of Covid-19 infections rose to a government alert level that puts the city among the worst affected in Europe.

The Belgian capital, which hosts the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, recorded on average 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants daily over the last week.

Everybody in the city, which has a population of 1.2 million, now has to wear a face mask when in parks, on streets or in any other public sites, as well as in private space accessible to the public, the regional government said.

France will gradually ramp up police checks to ensure people wear face masks where it is mandatory and respect social distancing amidst a new surge of Covid-19 infections, the government’s spokesman has said.

“We’re at a tipping point [...] We’re going to mobilise polices forces to make checks,” BFM TV showed Gabriel Attal telling journalists while visiting the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

“But it’s not the police people should be afraid of [...] they should fear the virus, that lurks and contaminates,” he said.

Russia has said that the first batch of its Covid-19 vaccine will be ready for some medics within two weeks and rejected as “groundless” safety concerns aired by some experts over Moscow's rapid approval of the drug.

The vaccine has not yet completed its final trials. Only about 10 per cent of clinical trials are successful and some scientists fear Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety.

“It seems our foreign colleagues are sensing the specific competitive advantages of the Russian drug and are trying to express opinions that in our opinion are completely groundless,” health minister Mikhail Murashko said.

Read more here.

Germany has recorded the biggest daily increase in new coronavirus cases in more than three months, data showed, with the health minister warning of outbreaks in nearly all parts of the country due to holiday returnees and party-goers.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 1,226 to 218,519, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) showed. That was the biggest daily increase since May 9.

The number of coronavirus deaths remained relatively low, edging up by six to a total of 9,207.

The Punjab government has issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for resuming educational activities from Sept 15.

According to a notification issued by the Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare, all indoor games, swings, slides and other sports activities are banned in educational institutions. There will be no seminars, speech competitions, [outdoor] sports and tournaments.

It further states that all the people will have to wear face masks and morning assemblies are also banned. Vans [meant for pick and drop] will leave 50 per cent of seats vacant in order to maintain social distancing. Only 30pc of students will be allowed to reside in hostels. All the staff and students will also have to wash hands and educational institutes will ensure availability of soap and sanitiser.

Read more here.

Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have collectively reported 33 coronavirus cases and two deaths during the last 24 hours.

According to the government's Covid-19 portal, the capital reported 15 cases and one death, GB reported 11 cases and one death, while AJK reported seven cases.

Punjab has reported 129 coronavirus cases and three deaths during the past 24 hours, according to the government's Covid-19 portal.

The provincial total has risen to 94,715 while the death toll is 2,177.

Pakistan has reported 1,947 coronavirus recoveries during the past 24 hours, according to the government's portal for tracking the spread of the virus in the country.

With the new recoveries, the tally has risen to 263,193.

The Punjab government has closed down Covid-19 wards in three government-run hospitals in the city, leaving the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) the dedicated facility for patients of the disease following a reported decrease in cases.

All the filter clinics and wards for Covid-19 patients at Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), Holy Family Hospital (HFH) and the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital have been closed and patients will be referred to RIU from now on.

The three hospitals have restarted routine activities and are treating all kinds of patients in various departments.

Read more here.

Noted Urdu poet Rahat Indori, who lent his voice to the nation-wide protests against a communal citizenship law, died in a hospital in Indore, reports have said.

He was tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, and suffered two consecutive heart attacks yesterday.

“He suffered two heart attacks today and could not be saved. He was admitted to hospital on Sunday, after testing positive for Covid-19. He had 60pc pneumonia,” The Hindustan Times newspaper quoted Dr Vinod Bhandari of Sri Aurobindo Hospital as saying.

Read more here.

Australia recorded its deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic and the biggest daily rise in infections in three days, denting hopes that a second wave gripping the state of Victoria may be stabilising.

Victoria reported 21 deaths – two more than the previous deadliest days earlier this week – and 410 new cases in the past 24 hours, ending a run of three consecutive days with new infections below 400.

A cluster of infections in Melbourne, the Victorian capital and Australia’s second-largest city, forced authorities last week to impose a night curfew, tighten restrictions on people’s daily movements and order large parts of state economy to close.

Mexico’s health ministry has reported 6,686 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 926 additional fatalities, bringing the totals in the country to 492,522 infections and 53,929 deaths.

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

Balochistan has reported 35 new cases of the new coronavirus, raising the provincial tally to 11,956.

The provincial government, in its daily report, stated that no new fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll stands at 138.

New confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands jumped to 4,036 in the past week, continuing the rapid increase seen since the easing of lockdown measures last month, Dutch health authorities said.

According to Reuters, the number of infections was up 55 per cent from the 2,588 cases reported over the previous week.

Despite lockdown restrictions being eased across the country, bus ride-sharing service Airlift has decided to keep its operations suspended for now, saying "Covid-19 continues to be a threat".

In an email to customers, Airlift noted that being in enclosed spaces exposes individuals to a high risk of contracting the coronavirus. It said despite a decline in new cases in Pakistan, "the risk of infection still remains high".

"In our view, travelling in buses is not safe for passengers in the current environment," it added, noting that many countries are seeing second waves of the virus.

Airlift said its transit services will remain suspended "at least for August and September" and the decision will be reviewed On October 1.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Russian health authorities are discussing the process for possible WHO prequalification for its newly approved Covid-19 vaccine, according to Reuters.

“We are in close contact with Russian health authorities and discussions are ongoing with respect to possible WHO prequalification of the vaccine, but again prequalification of any vaccine includes the rigorous review and assessment of all required safety and efficacy data,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told a UN briefing in Geneva, referring to clinical trials.

Dental patients and staff need to be protected from any potential infection by aerosol-generating procedures, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday, as dentists return to work in areas where the Covid-19 pandemic is easing, according to Reuters.

There is currently no data on the spread of coronavirus from the dentist's chair, it said, calling for more research into common procedures that produce tiny floating particles that may cause infection if inhaled.

These include three-way air/water spray, ultrasonic cleaning equipment that removes deposits from the tooth surface, and polishing, the WHO said in new guidance.

“WHO guidance recommends in case of community transmission to give priority to urgent or emergency oral cases, to avoid or minimise procedures that may generate aerosol, prioritise a set of clinical interventions that are performed using an instrument and of course to delay routine non-essential oral health care,” Benoit Varenne, a WHO dental officer, told a news briefing.

Russia has named its first approved Covid-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik V’ for foreign markets, a reference to the world’s first satellite and what Moscow sees as its success at becoming the first country to approve a vaccine, according to Reuters.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the country’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund, said Russia had already received requests from more than 20 countries for 1 billion doses of its newly-registered Covid-19 vaccine.

Rental prices in Spain's major cities fell in July, data from one of the biggest property portals showed on Tuesday, as the coronavirus pandemic drove up interest in less densely-populated areas, according to Reuters.

Between June and July, rents dropped by an average of 2.5 per cent in Barcelona and 1.7pc in Madrid, according to Fotocasa, although they remain Spain's most expensive locations.

“Many Spaniards are considering leaving the big cities and going to live in outlying areas where they can find bigger, brighter and more spacious homes,” said Fotocasa's communications director Anais Lopez.

Spain imposed one of Europe's strictest lockdowns in March, confining a population known for spending time in parks and bars to their homes.

While average July rents across Spain ticked down 0.8pc from June, they were still 7.9pc higher year-on-year, the company said.

Sindh has reported 429 new cases of the novel coronavirus, taking the provincial tally to 124,556.

Moreover, the daily situation report issued by the Chief Minister House confirmed the deaths of eight more persons. The death toll in the province now stands at 2,290.

New Zealand has announced its first locally transmitted coronavirus infections in more than 100 days and issued a stay-at-home lockdown order for the country's largest city.

After receiving global praise for its success containing the virus, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said four cases had been detected in a single family in Auckland from an unknown source.

“After 102 days, we have our first cases of Covid-19 outside of managed isolation or quarantine facilities ... we have all worked incredibly hard to prevent this scenario,” she told the country in a televised address.

“We have also planned and prepared for it.”

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health and finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra has said that coronavirus cases are drastically decreasing in the province, according to Radio Pakistan.

In a statement, he urged the public to persistently follow precautionary measures for curbing the spread of the virus.

Authorities in China have found the novel coronavirus on the packaging of imported frozen seafood that arrived from the port city of Dalian, which recently battled a surge of cases, Reuters reports.

The virus was found on the outer packaging of frozen seafood bought by three companies in Yantai, a port city in eastern Shandong province.

The Yantai city government said in a statement the seafood was from an imported shipment that landed at Dalian but did not say where it originated.

Authorities had sealed off the goods, the city government said. Everyone who handled the goods was under quarantine and have tested negative for the coronavirus, it said.

Indonesia has launched human trials of a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine with some 1,600 volunteers slated to take part in the six-month study, according to AFP.

The vaccine candidate, produced by Sinovac Biotech, is among just a few in the world to enter Phase 3 clinical trials, or large-scale testing on humans — the last step before regulatory approval.

The treatment, known as CoronaVac, is already being tested on 9,000 health workers in Brazil, the second hardest-hit country in the coronavirus pandemic after the United States.

The governor of Indonesia's most populous province, West Java, was among 1,620 volunteers slated to take part in clinical testing, which was set to wrap up in February.

Russia’s health ministry has given regulatory approval for the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, after less than two months of human testing, Reuters reported President Vladimir Putin as saying.

The move paves the way for mass inoculation even as the final stages of clinical trials to test safety and efficacy continue.

Read full story here.

India has reported 53,601 new cases of coronavirus as its total infections near 2.3 million, according to AP.

The Health Ministry also said 871 deaths were reported, raising total fatalities to 45,257.

India has been posting an average of around 50,000 new cases a day since mid-June. Its total infections are third in the world, behind the United States and Brazil.

The Indian Council of Medical Research, India’s top medical research body, said nearly 25 million samples have been tested.

Health experts, however, say the country needs to test more people given its big population. A country of 1.4 billion people, India has been conducting a little less than 18,000 tests per million population.