KINGSTON, Jamaica — The novel coronavirus has infected more than 422.1 million people, leaving more than 5.9 million dead across 223 countries and territories.

The majority of those infected have recovered and many countries have rolled out vaccine campaigns as economies start to recover from the pandemic.

— The Ministry of Health and Wellness reported 59 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths on Thursday, bringing the infection total to 127,436 and total deaths to 2,771, on Friday.

— German researchers on Friday called symptom-based screening to detect the novel coronavirus “ineffective” in a new analysis published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers assessed the screening process for 126 people evacuated to Germany from Wuhan, China.

— The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday issued a statement criticising the quarantine efforts taken on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The CDC noted that there are still more than 100 US citizens on board the ship or in hospitals in Japan. Due to their high-risk exposure, there is the potential for additional novel coronavirus cases to occur and the remaining passengers who disembark from the ship will be subject to a 14-day quarantine.

— On Friday, the Russian government announced that it would temporarily suspend entry by Chinese citizens, according to an order posted on an official state website today. The statement said Russia would bar entry through its state border to Chinese citizens entering for work, for private, educational and tourist purposes.