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Vietnam has 75% of patients discharged from hospital, and no new cases have been recorded for three consecutive days.
The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control announced that as of 6:00 AM on April 19th, Vietnam continued to record no new COVID-19 cases, marking three consecutive days without new infections.
On April 18th, three more foreign patients were declared recovered: Patient No. 97 at Can Gio Hospital, and patients No. 151 and 207 at Cu Chi Field Hospital.
Thus, the number of COVID-19 patients declared recovered in Vietnam has reached 201 out of 268, accounting for 75%. Currently, 67 out of 268 patients are still being treated at 11 medical facilities nationwide. To date, 14 cases have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once, and 6 cases have tested negative twice.
Khanh Hoa province is preparing the necessary conditions to receive 1,220 citizens returning home.
On April 18, the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province announced that, in accordance with the plan of Military Region 5, the locality is preparing the conditions to receive approximately 1,220 Vietnamese citizens returning from countries and territories affected by COVID-19 for medical quarantine.
These citizens are expected to undergo medical quarantine at six locations, including the Nha Trang City Military Command Training Ground, the National Defense and Security Education Center of the Information Officer School, the Provincial Border Guard Command Training Center, and Battalion 87 of the 377th Air Defense Division…
The number of COVID-19 infections in Türkiye has surpassed that in Iran.
On April 18, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country had reached 82,329, surpassing Iran and becoming the country with the highest total number of infections of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the Middle East region.
With 3,783 new infections in the past 24 hours, Türkiye is nearly catching up with China, where the outbreak first began in the world.
Asia is experiencing many positive developments.
The pandemic is showing positive signs in South Korea, Iran, Thailand, and Malaysia. Iran, a hotspot in the Middle East, reported on April 18th that it had recorded only 73 additional COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 5,031. This is the lowest daily death toll in Iran in several days.
On April 18th, South Korea reported 18 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the lowest daily number of new cases in the past two months. For the past five days, South Korea has consistently recorded fewer than 30 new cases each day.
Thailand has confirmed 33 new cases, bringing the total number of infections in the Southeast Asian nation to 2,733. The Thai Ministry of Public Health said the COVID-19 mortality rate in the country is 1.7%, four times lower than the global average, while the recovery rate is 62.5%.
Malaysia also announced 54 new cases on April 18 – the lowest daily increase in the country since the government imposed lockdowns and social distancing measures on March 18. The number of COVID-19 patients in Malaysia now stands at 5,305, with 88 deaths.
However, on the same day, Singapore's Ministry of Health confirmed an additional 942 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, a record high daily increase in the Southeast Asian nation, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 5,992.
The total number of COVID-19 deaths in Europe has surpassed 100,000.
According to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 6:00 PM on April 18th, the COVID-19 pandemic had claimed the lives of over 100,000 people in Europe, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total global deaths. Specifically, with 100,501 deaths out of a total of 1,136,672 SARS-CoV-2 infections, Europe has become the continent most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far caused 157,163 deaths worldwide.
Yesterday, the UK recorded 5,525 new cases and 888 deaths due to Covid-19. Due to the complex development of the pandemic, Queen Elizabeth II officially requested the cancellation of special events at her 94th birthday celebration, scheduled for April 21st, and there will be no celebratory gun salute.
Spain, a hotspot for the virus, has recorded over 20,000 deaths from COVID-19. The country's Ministry of Health reported 565 additional deaths from the disease on April 18th, a slight decrease from the 585 deaths reported on April 17th.
On April 18, France recorded an additional 642 deaths from COVID-19 in hospitals and clinics over the past 24 hours. This represents a new decrease in the total number of deaths from the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in hospitals and intensive care units.
Spain extends nationwide lockdown until May 9th.
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced an extension of the nationwide lockdown until May 9th, as the southwestern European nation is one of the hardest-hit countries by the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the country has recorded 191,726 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including 20,043 deaths.
Spain imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 14th and it is likely to continue.
Russia recorded a record number of SARS-CoV-2 infections in a single day.
The Russian Federation's COVID-19 Task Force announced that as of noon on April 18, the country had recorded an additional 4,785 cases of COVID-19 across 79 federal entities (compared to 4,070 the previous day), bringing the total number of infected individuals to 36,793. This is the highest daily number of new infections ever recorded in Russia.
During the same period, Russia recorded an additional 40 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 313.
Moscow, Russia monitors lockdown enforcement using traffic cameras.
Due to the complex situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian capital Moscow has used traffic cameras to monitor and enforce the lockdown. Accordingly, from April 22nd, residents of Moscow and Moscow Oblast can only use public transport with Troika, Strelka, monthly passes, and social cards. The numbers of these passes must be declared on the electronic QR code pass, and residents must declare them at least 5 hours before departure. Without declaring the pass number on the QR code pass, users will not be able to enter subway stations or board public transport.
Car owners must also declare their vehicle number on their electronic pass; otherwise, the vehicle will be considered in violation and the owner will be fined. Traffic police and the city's traffic camera system will be used to monitor compliance.
France is experimenting with isolating COVID-19 patients in hotels.
The COVID-19 patient isolation system in hotels, developed with support from Accor Group, aims to break the chains of SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission. Called "Covisan," this system is for patients in stable condition who do not yet require hospitalization.
According to Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Accor, the group is initially mobilizing three hotels located near four hospitals. And from April 15th, the Paris Hospital Network (AP-HP) has implemented a monitoring system from these four hospitals. AP-HP is also enlisting the participation of the Red Cross and family clinic systems so that family doctors can include their patients in the project's target list. Martin Hirsch, CEO of AP-HP, stated that the "Covisan" project is part of a plan to lift the nationwide lockdown and prevent a second wave of the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to escalate in the Americas, with the US recording nearly 1,900 additional deaths.
The COVID-19 respiratory disease continues to develop in a complex manner in the US, with the country recording an additional 1,891 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities from this dangerous disease to 38,644 as of April 18th.
On April 18, Mexico's Ministry of Health announced that in the past 24 hours, the country had recorded an additional 622 cases of COVID-19 and 104 deaths, bringing the total number of cases and deaths to 7,497 and 650 respectively, while 12,369 people were suspected of being infected.
Most alarming is the situation in Ecuador, where yesterday the country recorded 456 deaths from the novel coronavirus, an increase of 35 compared to the previous 24 hours. The total number of COVID-19 cases has reached 9,022. This is truly an overwhelming burden for a healthcare system that is somewhat weak, as Ecuadorian health officials have only conducted 30,922 tests so far.
Canada and the US extend border travel restrictions until May 20.
On April 18, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada and the United States would extend travel restrictions across their border until May 20. The US-Canada border had been closed to non-essential travel since the night of March 20 (local time) and was originally scheduled to remain in effect until April 20. However, the supply chains for essential goods such as food, fuel, medicine, and other services between the two countries remained uninterrupted. Flights between the two countries continued, albeit with restrictions.
The US is testing the drug remdesivir, which has shown effectiveness in monkeys and humans with COVID-19.
Remdesivir is one of the first experimental drugs in the treatment regimen for COVID-19 patients and has initially shown promising results. On April 17th, American scientists announced that the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir had shown effectiveness in treating acute respiratory illness COVID-19 after small-scale trials on monkeys.
Remdesivir was also used to treat 125 COVID-19 patients in Chicago, 113 of whom had severe symptoms. Infectious disease expert Kathleen Mullane at the University of Chicago said that most of the severely ill patients treated with remdesivir were discharged within six days.
