BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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WASHINGTON -- Despite his leading role in the U.S. fight against COVID-19, top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci has been sidelined by the White House, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Citing a senior White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Post reported that Fauci "no longer briefs (U.S. President) Trump and is never in the Oval (Office) anymore."

According to the report, Fauci had not spoken to Trump since "the first week of June."

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HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection reported 38 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, including 30 local infections.

The newly reported cases brought the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong to 1,469.

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MINSK -- Belarus reported 165 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday, taking its total to 64,932, according to the country's health ministry.

There have been 461 new recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 55,380, the ministry said.

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MOSCOW -- The novel coronavirus could have existed in a dormant state long before its outbreak, Melita Vujnovic, the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to Russia, has said.

"WHO has established a large team that will work together with Chinese scientists to analyze the origin of the virus," Vujnovic said in a recent interview with RIA Novosti news agency.

"This virus lived in animals and at some point passed to humans. It's hard to say when and where this happened. It's being investigated. Viruses can be found in waste water. But nothing can be said specifically," she said.

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YEREVAN -- Armenia on Sunday reported 577 new COVID-19 cases in the last day, bringing its total to 31,969, according to the National Center for Disease Control.

Data from the center showed that 214 more patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 19,633.

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WASHINGTON -- Around 40 percent of positive COVID-19 cases showed no symptoms of the coronavirus disease, according to the latest "COVID-19 Pandemic Planning Scenarios" from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This document, which the agency said can be used to estimate the possible effects of COVID-19 in U.S. states and localities, was first posted on May 20. The July 10 update is based on data received by the U.S. CDC through June 29.

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TOKYO -- The confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 375 to reach 21,959, according to the latest figures from the health ministry and local authorities on Sunday, as fears for a potential second wave of infections among the public and authorities are rising.

The number excludes the 712 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo.

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia reported another 14 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, bringing the national total to 8,718.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement that three of the new infections are imported and the other 11 are local transmissions.

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TEHRAN -- Iran's confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 257,303 on Sunday after an overnight registration of 2,186 new infections, state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing that out of the new cases in the past 24 hours, 1,499 have been hospitalized.

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BEIJING -- With joint efforts of both sides, China-Mexico relations have maintained a good momentum of development, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang has said.

Zheng made the remarks on Friday at the 17th political consultation between the two countries' foreign ministries via video link, which was also attended by Mexico's Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs Julian Ventura.

For his part, Ventura spoke highly of the bilateral cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 and other fields. Enditem

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