Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria said the total daily cases fell below 300 for the first time in more than a week.
The state reported nine deaths over the last 24 hours with seven casualties linked to aged care facilities, Premier Daniel Andrews said in a media conference in Melbourne.
The southeast state saw a flare-up in infections over the last several weeks and authorities have sent an emergency medical team to aged care homes, which are at the center of the outbreak.
Victoria reported 295 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, compared with 384 a day earlier.
China reports highest number of cases since mid-April
China reported 101 new cases in the mainland for July 28, the highest in over three and a half months.
China has moved quickly to stamp out eruptions by contact tracing and re-shuttering the affected areas.
Recently, many of the new infections have come from the far western region of Xinjiang, where 89 have been tallied for July 28. One was recorded in Beijing, while three were imported cases, according to a statement by the National Health Commission.
China also reported 27 new asymptomatic patients for July 28, down from 34 a day earlier.
Mainland China has 84,060 confirmed cases and the death toll remained at 4,634.
Mexico reports almost 1,000 daily deaths
Mexico has 7,208 new known cases and 854 additional deaths, bringing the nation's total to 402,697 cases and 44,876 fatalities, the health ministry reported.
Mexico has the fourth highest death tally worldwide.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the number of confirmed cases.
Moderna pitches virus vaccine at around $50-$60 per course
Moderna Inc is planning to price its coronavirus vaccine at $50 to $60 per course, higher than other vaccine makers have agreed to charge governments, the Financial Times reported.
The price would apply to the US and other high-income countries, according to the report.
A Moderna spokesperson said the company was in discussions with governments about potential supply of mRNA-1273, but did not give any details on pricing "given the confidential nature of the discussions and contracts".
Moderna's proposed price of $50 to $60 for a course, or $25 to $30 per dose, is higher than that pitched by Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech in a $2 billion deal with the US government at $39 for a course, or $19.50 per dose.
Pfizer, Moderna and Merck & Co have said they plan to sell their vaccines at a profit, while some drugmakers, including Johnson & Johnson have announced plans to price their vaccines on a not-for-profit basis.
US: Russia behind spread of virus disinformation
Russian intelligence services are using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the pandemic, seeking to exploit a crisis that America is struggling to contain ahead of the presidential election in November, US officials said.
Two Russians who have held senior roles in Moscow’s military intelligence service known as the GRU have been identified as responsible for a disinformation effort reaching American and Western audiences, US government officials said.
Though US officials have warned before about the spread of disinformation tied to the pandemic, they went further by singling out a particular information agency that is registered in Russia, InfoRos and that operates a series of websites, InfoRos.ru, Infobrics.org and OneWorld.press, that have leveraged the pandemic to promote anti-Western objectives and to spread disinformation.
Brazil records over 40,000 cases in last 24-hours
Brazil recorded 40,816 additional confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, as well as 921 deaths from the disease, the Health Ministry said.
Brazil has registered nearly 2.5 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 88,539, according to ministry data.
Travel advisory issued for three US states, capital and Puerto Rico
Three more states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have been added to the list of places whose residents traveling to New Jersey must quarantine for two weeks.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Illinois, Kentucky and Minnesota, along with the capital and the Caribbean island bring the total list of affected states and territories to 36.
The travel advisory calls for travellers from those places to quarantine for 14 days and applies to states with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or those with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.
New Jersey’s positivity rate has been hovering around 2% or lower and has seen new hospitalisations fall 40% from two weeks ago, according to the governor’s office. New hospitalisations since the virus’s peak in April are down 97%. The state has 4.5 new cases per day per 100,000 residents, ranking 44th in the country, according to Murphy’s office.
Biden says he hasn't been tested for virus
US democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he personally had not been tested for the virus, but did not elaborate on why he hasn’t sought such a screening protectively.
Speaking to reporters after giving a speech in his hometown of Wilmington, Biden also said President Donald Trump needs to appoint a federal official in charge of equitably distributing a vaccine when one is available, adding “the president should have put someone in charge” of that “three months ago.”
Biden used the speech to lay out how he will rebuild the economy in a way that promotes racial equality.
He also accused the Trump administration of using coronavirus relief funds to allow large banks to enrich themselves through loans while “closing the door” on small businesses, especially those owned by African Americans.
“A change of ‘tone’ over a few days does not change the facts of the last four years,” Biden said, referring to the past few days, when Trump spoke about the coronavirus in somber terms. “Donald Trump fails the basic threshold test of being president — the duty to care about the entire country, not just himself. He has shown that he can’t beat the pandemic to keep you safe.”
Chile eases lockdown measures in capital
Chile’s government has eased lockdown orders on more than a million people in the greater Santiago region, despite criticism from some health experts.
The order means residents in seven of the metropolitan region’s 32 districts can leave home without seeking permission from Monday through Friday, open small businesses and go to work, so long as their workplace is in an area where the restrictions have been eased.
Large businesses, restaurants, theaters and cafes remain closed and a curfew is in force from 0200 to 0900 GMT.
Metropolitan Santiago as a whole holds 8 million of the country’s 19 million people. The downtown district itself remains under lockdown.
Chile ranks eighth in the world in confirmed cases per capita, with 350,000 cases and more than 13,000 deaths.
Private think tank Espacio Publico complained that the government was easing the restrictions contrary to advice from experts.
Kosovo reimposes lockdown
Kosovo's government imposed most of the previous lockdown measures, such as banning religious ceremonies and other activities, in an effort to prevent an alarming escalation of coronavirus cases.
The government ordered that public gatherings, including family traditional ceremonies and mass gathering of more than five people, are banned in squares or parks. Restaurants, cafes, night clubs cannot operate during 2030 to 0300 GMT.
Citizens from neighboring Western Balkan countries where new virus cases have risen too need to present a negative virus test to enter the country.
Citizens are advised to wear the mask in all closed buildings or spaces and institutions and companies should create the proper social distancing environment for the employees.
Kosovo has reported 7,652 confirmed virus cases and 192 deaths so far.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
