Global fight against pandemic continues

The pandemic has killed 862,006 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year, according to www.worldometers.info tally, report agencies.

More than 25.94 million cases have been registered.

The United States has recorded the highest number of deaths with 184,689, followed by Brazil with 122,596, India with 66,333, Mexico 65,241 and Britain 41,504 fatalities.

The United States will not join an international effort to develop and distribute vaccination for the coronavirus, as it does not want to be restricted by multilateral groups like the World Health Organization, officials said on Tuesday.

"The United States will continue to engage our international partners to ensure we defeat this virus, but we will not be constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China," the Washington Post first quoted White House spokesman Judd Deere as saying.

"This president will spare no expense to ensure that any new vaccine maintains our own Food and Drug Administration's gold standard for safety and efficacy, is thoroughly tested and saves lives."

While some countries are striking bilateral deals to secure supplies of potential Covid-19 vaccines, a major cooperative effort has been set in motion by over 150 countries under the leadership of the WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Pre-paredness Innovations and the vaccine alliance Gavi.

The Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, has received support from traditional US allies, including Japan, the European Union and Germany. The initiative will allow members to gain access to a range of potential vaccines so that a larger section of the world can be covered when an effective solution is developed

Another report adds: Starting September 3, China will resume direct international flights to Beijing from eight countries with low rates of the coronavirus, after a freeze of more than five months.

The new rules will apply to flights from Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Greece, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Canada, but travellers will be subject to centralised quarantine on arrival for 14 days and have to take two Covid-19 tests.

Meanwhile, Australia falls into recession for the first time in three decades, joining countries such as Brazil and India, leaving China as the only major nation still recording economic growth during the pandemic.

The country's economy shrunk a record seven percent in the second quarter, as households altered their behaviour and restrictions were put in place to contain the spread of the

Report from Male adds: Exclusive tourist hotspot the Maldives tightens entry requirements after a spike in coronavirus infections at more than a dozen resorts.