The Chinese authorities said that they have managed to contain the outbreak of the new Corona virus in the capital, Beijing, in parallel with the World Health Organization expects to show preliminary results of clinical vaccine trials conducted in two weeks.

Corona virus infection worldwide exceeded 11 million today, Friday, according to the World Health Organization, the number of cases more than twice the number of acute influenza cases that are registered annually.

Beijing will lift restrictions on movement for most residents at midnight, according to the city authorities announced today, weeks after new injuries were recorded in the Chinese capital.

A spokesperson for the municipal public security bureau said at a press conference that all people residing in areas of the city considered "low risk" can leave Beijing without proof of a negative test result from tomorrow, Saturday.

Spokesman Ban Shuhong stressed that the large monitoring and tracing campaign "effectively cut down the transmission channels of the virus" with fewer than 3 cases reported per day in recent days.

He also stressed "a significant reduction in risk factors," adding that there were no indications of a wider outbreak of the virus in population centers, while most cases were discovered by monitoring high-risk groups.

Results of vaccine experiments

The announcement came after Beijing lifted domestic closures imposed following the discovery of new infections linked to a wholesale market in June, which raised fears of a second wave of the virus.

The Chinese capital examined more than 10 million people between June 11 and July 3, almost half of the city's population, according to the official in Beijing, Zhang Qiang, Friday.

China managed to control the virus largely, before monitoring the new outpost in Beijing last month.

Since then, the government has imposed strict closures on nearly a million people in the neighboring Hubei area to contain a new outpost there, and implemented the same firm measures imposed at the height of the pandemic in Wuhan, the epidemic center earlier this year.

On the other hand, WHO Director-General Tidros Adhanum Gebresos said at a press conference today, Friday, that the organization expects to see preliminary results within two weeks of clinical trials conducted on drugs that may be effective in treating Covid-19 patients.

Mike Ryan, WHO's head of the emergency program, said it was not wise to predict when the coron vaccine would be ready for mass distribution.

He added in a press conference that while the effectiveness of a vaccine may appear by the end of the year, the question is: When can it be produced in large quantities?

The European Commission also allowed today the use of the anti-retroviral drug Ramsdevir, "under conditions", which is used to treat seriously ill people with the Coronavirus.

The most affected countries

For the first time since the start of the epidemic, Latin America has surpassed Europe in the number of infections, with Friday reaching more than two million and 740,000 cases officially confirmed, but North America remains the region with the largest number of infections globally.

On Thursday, Johns Hopkins University announced the registration of at least 53,693 injuries in the United States, in a daily toll that reflects a record number of injuries.

The outbreak has claimed the lives of at least 521,384 people worldwide.

In the list of the most affected countries, the United States recorded 128,740 deaths, followed by Brazil with 61,884 deaths, the United Kingdom with a total of 43,995 deaths, then Italy with 34,818 deaths, and France with a total of 29,875 deaths.

On Thursday, the Peruvian state crossed the threshold of 10,000 deaths, coinciding with the start of the local authorities to gradually ease restrictions on closures, including in the capital, Lima.

For its part, the British government said today, Friday, that visitors coming to Britain from 59 countries and regions - including France, Spain and Italy - will not have to undergo quarantine as of July 10.

The government added that those coming from any country not included in this list will have to submit to a voluntary quarantine until 14 days have passed since they left this country.

This exemption will only include those coming to Britain, while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will keep the quarantine procedures.

However, Spain confirmed that it will not reopen its borders to travelers from Algeria, Morocco and China as long as these countries do not allow travelers from Spain to enter.