Live COVID-19 updates: Jordan receives 1st batch of vaccines purchased from China

   BEIJING, April 5 -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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   AMMAN -- First batch of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines purchased from China arrived in Jordanian capital Amman on Sunday, as the kingdom's endeavor to strengthen its mass inoculation campaign against the pandemic.
   Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Chen Chuandong said in a statement that China and Jordan have supported each other in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, which reflects the value of the Chinese-Jordanian strategic partnership and profound friendship between the two countries and their people.
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   BOGOTA -- Colombian President Ivan Duque announced on Sunday new restrictive measures for several Colombian cities where the number of COVID-19 cases are on the rise and the occupancy of intensive care units is over 70 percent.
   "The national government, headed by the Ministries of Health and the Interior ... has issued a series of recommendations to be implemented ... in order to reduce the risk of contagion," said Duque.
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   TRIPOLI -- The Libyan Minister of Health Ali Zanati on Sunday announced that a shipment of 101,250 dozes of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, provided by the United Arab Emirates, arrived in Libyan capital Tripoli.
   Experts supervised the distribution of the vaccine to special medicine cooling stores across the country at -18 degrees celsius, Zanati told a press conference in Tripoli, confirming that a vaccination campaign will begin soon and that he will be the first to receive the vaccine.
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   PARIS -- The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in France rose by 470 in a single day to a total of 29,356, showed health authorities data released on Sunday.
   Among them, 5,341 cases required intensive care, up by 68 compared with the day before.
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   LISBON -- Portugal registered another 193 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest since Aug. 25, 2020, health authorities reported on Sunday.
   The Portuguese Directorate-General for Health also reported four more deaths related to COVID-19.
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   SANTIAGO -- The Chilean Ministry of Health on Sunday reported 7,304 new cases of COVID-19 and 120 more deaths.
   Minister of Health Enrique Paris stated that new cases have increased by 25 percent nationwide in the last 14 days, and that only five regions have decreased numbers of reported cases in that period.
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   QUITO -- The Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health on Sunday reported 2,506 new cases and 10 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 335,681 and the death toll to 12,060.
   The actual pandemic death toll may be closer to 17,000 as another 4,896 deaths are considered to be COVID-19 related, but not verified, according to the ministry.  xinhua