BEIJING, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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SAO PAULO -- Brazil's COVID-19 death toll has reached 155,900 after 497 more patients died of the disease in the last 24 hours, the country's Ministry of Health said Thursday.

Meanwhile, 24,858 more infections were reported, raising the nationwide count to 5,323,630, the ministry said.

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SEOUL -- South Korea reported 155 more cases of the COVID-19 as of 0:00 a.m. Friday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 25,698.

The daily caseload stayed above 100 for straight days, marking the highest figure in 42 days since Sept. 11 due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

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BEIJING -- No new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday across the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said Friday.

A total of 18 confirmed cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported, the commission said in its daily report.

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved Gilead Sciences' antiviral drug Veklury (remdesivir) as a treatment for COVID-19.

Veklury is indicated for use in adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older and weighing at least 40 kg for the treatment of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization, said the FDA in a statement.

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SANTIAGO -- Chile has administered over 4 million PCR tests for COVID-19, making it first in Latin America for tests administered, Health Minister Enrique Paris said Thursday.

Paris stated that 20 percent of the national population has been tested, "so Chile closely follows countries such as New Zealand, Sweden, and the Netherlands," with a rate of 207,000 PCR tests per million inhabitants.

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LISBON -- The Portuguese government tightened restrictive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, as the country registered on Thursday another 3,270 coronavirus infections, a record single-day increase since the beginning of the pandemic.

So far, Portugal has confirmed 109,541 COVID-19 cases. With 16 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, fatalities from the virus-caused disease in Portugal have reached 2,245 since March, according to data from the Directorate-General for Health.

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PARIS -- France's Public Health Agency on Thursday evening reported 41,661 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, a new record after Saturday's 32,427.

The cumulative total infections now stand at 999,043, according to the agency. With a one-day increase of 162 deaths, 34,210 people have died of the virus-caused disease. Enditem

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