Russia on Friday reported 679 coronavirus deaths, a record number of pandemic-related fatalities over a 24-four period for the fourth day in a row, a government tally showed.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday presided over a meeting in Baabda that discussed the country’s medicine shortage crisis, in which it was decided to continue the subsidization of medicine and medical equipment despite the severe financial crisis.

A statement issued after the meeting said the scheme will be based on the Health Ministry’s priorities.

The World Health Organization on Thursday said Covid cases were on the rise again in Europe after two months of decline and warned a new wave would come "unless we remain disciplined."

"Last week, the number of cases rose by 10 percent, driven by increased mixing, travel, gatherings and easing of social restrictions," WHO's regional director for Europe Hans Kluge told a press conference.

Scores of deaths in Canada's Vancouver area are likely linked to a grueling heat wave, authorities said Tuesday, as the country recorded its highest ever temperature amid scorching conditions that extended to the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un replaced several senior officials after a "crucial" coronavirus incident, state media reported Wednesday, potentially signaling a breach in the country's epidemic defenses.

More than three billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been given across the world, according to an AFP tally Tuesday from official sources.

Delayed second and third doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine boost immunity against Covid-19, a study by Oxford University, which developed the jab with the British-Swedish firm, said on Monday.

Russia's main coronavirus hotspots Moscow and Saint Petersburg reached new pandemic highs for Covid-19 deaths on Monday, as the country battles a surging third wave driven by the Delta variant.

The highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus has become widespread in most countries but it has not yet reached Lebanon, the caretaker health minister’s advisor, Mohammed Haidar, said on Sunday.

“Its presence in more than 100 nations might lead to its arrival in Lebanon through expats,” Haidar warned.

Moscow on Sunday recorded 144 Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the worst toll in a Russian city since the start of the pandemic, news reports said quoting official data.