BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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NEW YORK -- Global COVID-19 deaths surpassed 2 million on Friday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The global death toll rose to 2,000,905, with a total of more than 93.4 million cases worldwide as of 12:22 p.m. local time (1722 GMT), the CSSE data showed.

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PARIS -- France on Friday saw the coronavirus-related death toll approach 70,000, while the daily increase in COVID-19 infections was 21,271, slightly up from 21,228 registered the day before.

Since the start of the outbreak, a total of 69,949 French citizens have lost their lives because of the virus, including 21,359 in retirement homes.

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GENEVA -- World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday urged fairness of access to COVID-19 vaccines, saying he wants to "see vaccination underway in every country in the next 100 days."

Speaking at a virtual press conference from Geneva, Tedros stressed that efforts should be made to ensure that middle and low-income countries are equally protected.

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HAVANA -- Cuba exceeded 17,000 infections from the novel coronavirus, after reporting 547 new cases and two deaths on Friday, for accumulated totals of 17,096 cases and 162 deaths, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Official data showed the number of infections from sources from abroad has been reduced to 32 cases since a reduction in international flights and the requirement for all travelers to present a negative PCR test performed 72 hours before entering the country was implemented.

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ANKARA -- More than 600,000 health workers in Turkey have received their first doses of COVID-19 shots developed by China's Sinovac during the first two days of the country's vaccination program, Turkish Health Ministry's data showed on Friday.

Turkey reported on Friday 8,314 new COVID-19 cases, including 921 symptomatic patients, as the total number of positive cases in the country reached 2,373,115, according to its health ministry.

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HARARE -- Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga on Friday assured the nation that there are enough hospital facilities to cater for COVID-19 patients for the time being.

Chiwenga, also the Minister of Health and Child Care, said contrary to reports on social media, there were enough hospital beds to cater for patients and these would be increased if need be. Enditem

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