Coronavirus pandemic continues wreaking havoc worldwide. According to worldometer.com, 170,190,564 cases of coronavirus have been reported so far. Of these, 152,038,867 people have been cured, while 3,539,173 people have died.
The Malaysian government on Friday announced a nationwide "total lockdown" from June 1 to 13 due to a surge in coronavirus infections, according to the office of Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Friday. The COVID-19 cases have exceeded the daily average of 8,000, which also includes those of new mutant strains. Meanwhile, all social and economic sectors will not allow to operate in the first phase of lockdown enforced from 1 to 14.
India has been witnessing a gradual decrease in daily coronavirus cases. According to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry, India reported 1,73,790 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative count of the cases to 2,77,29,247. With 3,617 deaths in the last 24 hours, the death toll has increased to 3,22,512.
The country also witnessed 2,84,601 recoveries in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative recoveries to 2,51,78,011. With this, the country's recovery rate has increased to 90.80%.
Britain on Friday approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, the first single-dose shot to be authorised in the country. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the vaccine after previously approving the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna shots. This single-shot vaccine will help boost a countrywide vaccination drive to allow its economy to reopen fully despite concerns about a new variant.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has termed it "very welcome news and another boost to our hugely successful vaccination program". On Twitter, he wrote, "As we encourage everyone to get their jabs, the single-dose… vaccine will play an important role in helping us protect people from the virus. When you get the call, get the jab