BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
- - - -
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil again exceeded 1,000 daily deaths caused by COVID-19 after registering 1,031 fatalities from the disease in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 143,952, the government said on Wednesday.
According to the Ministry of Health, it was the first time Brazil had surpassed 1,000 deaths a day since Sept. 15, when 1,113 people died.
- - - -
HOUSTON -- The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated energy transition worldwide, experts said at a virtual conference Wednesday, noting that policies and collaborations are needed in the process.
The Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies and Baker Botts L.L.P. co-hosted their fourth annual energy conference in the U.S. city of Houston, often referred to as the world's energy capital.
- - - -
OTTAWA -- More Canadians are increasingly anxious about the second wave of COVID-19 and are worried about its impact on the economy, according to a survey released by the Canadian Angus Reid Institute on Wednesday.
Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had begun in the country.
- - - -
TUNIS -- Tunisian Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 1,008 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 18,413.
In addition, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients reached 341, including 102 in intensive care units and 47 on ventilators, while the death toll increased to 265, according to a ministry statement.
- - - -
SANTIAGO -- Chile's Minister of Health Enrique Paris on Wednesday said 16 percent of the 1,684 new cases of COVID-19 infection detected in the past 24 hours were discovered through active search.
Active search is part of an anti-COVID-19 strategy that consists of seeking out cases of infection through testing of segments of the population whether or not they have symptoms of the disease, said Paris.
- - - -
BEIJING -- China will share COVID-19 vaccines with the world at a fair and reasonable price, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.
"Vaccines of various countries are still being developed. It is uncertain how they will be priced, but for China, one thing is clear. We will provide our vaccines to the world as a global public good at a fair and reasonable price," spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular press briefing.
- - - -
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 31.4 percent in the second quarter amid mounting COVID-19 fallout, 0.3 percentage point higher than the previous estimate in late August, the U.S. Commerce Department said in its third and final estimate released Wednesday. Enditem
