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WASHINGTON -- A new genetic analysis of COVID-19 patients suggests that blood type might influence whether someone develops severe COVID-19, according to a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The study, involving researchers in Italy, Spain, Denmark, Germany and other countries, compared about 2,000 patients in Europe with severe COVID-19 to several thousand other people who were healthy or who had only mild or no symptoms.
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SANTIAGO -- Chile on Thursday said a total of 225,103 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 3,841 people have died of the disease.
In the past 24 hours ending 9 p.m. Wednesday (0100 GMT Thursday), health centers detected 4,475 new cases of infection and 226 more patients died of COVID-19, with a mortality rate of 1.71 percent.
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CAIRO -- Egypt reported on Thursday 1,218 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total cases registered in the country since mid-February to 50,437, said Egyptian Health Ministry.
Egypt and China have been cooperating closely in fighting the pandemic.
In early February, Egypt provided aid to China to help with its fight against COVID-19 and China later returned favor by sending three batches of medical aid to the North African country, the latest of which was in mid-May.
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JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Ministry of Health reported 253 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total infections in Israel to 20,036.
The death toll from the coronavirus remained at 303, while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 36 to 38, out of 146 patients currently hospitalized.
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OTTAWA -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday that his government will begin testing a mobile contact tracing app against the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The app will compile confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and notify Canadians when they have been in proximity to someone who has the virus.
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COPENHAGEN -- The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe rang the "alarm bells" on Thursday by pointing out disturbing increases in "incidence and numbers" of coronavirus infections in countries of Eastern Europe despite weeks of COVID-19 cases declining in other European countries.
"In the past month, the number of European countries showing significant increases in cumulative incidence has more than tripled from six to 21 countries," said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, during a regular virtual meeting hosted in Copenhagen.
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BEIJING -- Beijing has published a slew of measures to tighten the control of personnel flow following the emergence of several new clusters of COVID-19 infections, a security official said at a press conference Thursday.
People belonging to three categories are not allowed to leave Beijing, according to Pan Xuhong, deputy head and spokesperson of the municipal public security bureau.
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