Live COVID-19 updates: China, U.S. health experts agree to act together against COVID-19

APD NEWS

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The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Leading health experts from China and the United States have agreed during a webinar to act together and follow scientific guidance in the fight against COVID-19, the event's organizer said Friday.

"They exchanged opinions and reached a very positive conclusion in the end, as Professor Barry Bloom from Harvard said that health care is local, but health research is global. The world must rely on scientific methods to deal with the pandemic. We must also use scientific methods to find the origin of the virus," said Florence Fang, co-founder of the newly-established, non-profit Global Alliance to Combat COVID-19 (GACC).

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ACCRA -- Ghana recorded 921 newly-confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the country's total number of cases to 4,012, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) disclosed late Friday.

The GHS said more than 50 percent of the new cases resulted from the outbreak in an industrial facility, with 533 workers out of 1,300 tested positive.

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GENEVA -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that countries that lift restrictions and open their economies should be ready to quickly identify COVID-19 cases if they resurge.

"I think we're going to be in a situation where we may need to lift some of these measures but be ready to quickly identify those cases," said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on COVID-19 response at the WHO Health Emergencies Program, at Friday's press conference.

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HAVANA -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has expressed gratitude for the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee's donation of medical supplies amid the Caribbean nation's efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is another manifestation of solidarity from China. We thank our friendly Asian nation for their support," Diaz-Canel said on Twitter.

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UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations has launched a COVID-19 response plan for 14 countries and territories in the Pacific suffering the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The plan, which requires 35.3 million U.S. dollars, addresses immediate needs in education, food security, livelihoods, water and sanitation, nutrition, protection, logistics, as well as emergency telecommunications, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Friday.

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YAOUNDE -- Cameroon is poised to do "robust and large scale" COVID-19 testing, Minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie said on Friday.

"We will now test more people rapidly," Manaouda told reporters in the capital Yaounde, "this will significantly accelerate our battle on the field, especially at the airports."

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LONDON -- Another 626 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 31,241, Environment Secretary George Eustice said Friday.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.