Indigenous people wait for medical treatment in the state of Maranhao, Brazil, Oct. 3, 2020. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua)

Chile: less than 100 critical cases of COVID-19 in the last 12 days

Lithuania: 776 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, the biggest daily spike since the country confirmed its first case on Feb. 28

Iran: Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has been infected with COVID-19

BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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People wear masks as they enter the Colegio Principado de Asturias to cast their vote during the plebiscite, in the Puente Alto commune, in Santiago, capital of Chile, on October 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Str)

SANTIAGO -- Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris said Wednesday that the country has seen less than 100 critical cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 12 days.

Out of the 745 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) over that period, only 79 were considered critical, he noted.

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SAO PAULO -- Authorities in Brazil's southeast state of Sao Paulo, epicenter of the country's novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, on Wednesday called on residents to help prevent a second wave of infections as economic activity picks up again.

"We have to maintain the caution that brought us here and avoid a second wave of cases as is happening in Europe," the state's Secretary of Health Jean Gorinchteyn said at a press conference.

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Students attend the opening ceremony with bouquets of flowers in hand, marking the start of a new school year, at Vilnius Fabijoniskiu Gymnasium in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo by Alfredas Pliadis/Xinhua)

VILNIUS -- Lithuania reported 776 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, the biggest daily spike since the country confirmed its first case on Feb. 28, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The latest confirmed cases brought the national total to 12,138, including 144 deaths and 4,502 recoveries so far. In the past 24 hours, 10,806 coronavirus tests were conducted nationwide.

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Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (C), speaker of Iran's new parliament, greets lawmakers after being elected during a session of Iranian parliament in Tehran, Iran, May 28, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

TEHRAN -- Speaker of Iran's Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf announced on Wednesday that he has been infected with COVID-19, Tasnim news agency reported.

"One of my office colleagues got the coronavirus, and at midnight, my own test result was positive for the coronavirus," Qalibaf wrote in a message on Twitter.

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HONG KONG -- More deaths and confirmed cases were reported in Asia-Pacific countries on Wednesday, as the total deaths in India surpassed the 120,000-mark and Indonesia's infections 400,000.

With 508 deaths in the past 24 hours, the death toll in India reached 120,010. The total COVID-19 tally reached 7,990,322 as 43,893 new cases were detected across the country since Tuesday morning. ■