GENEVA, June 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced another daily record in the number of new confirmed coronavirus cases across the world – topping over 189,000 in a single 24-hour period.
The tally Sunday from the UN health agency eclipses the previous record a week earlier at over 183,000 cases, showing case counts continue to progress worldwide.
Brazil recorded the most new cases over the one-day span at more than 46,800, followed by the US at over 44,400. India had nearly 20,000.
Overall the US still has far and away the most total cases, At more than 2,450,000 – roughly twice that of Brazil.
The tension between reopening battered economies — efforts pushed in the US by Trump — and public health concerns is a source of debate in nearly every country.
US deaths now exceed 125,000, about a quarter of the world total.
“This is a very, very serious situation and the window is closing for us to take action and get this under control,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said.
With Trump struggling to get his re-election bid off the ground ahead of the November vote, the campaign confirmed that planned events featuring Vice President Mike Pence in Arizona and Florida next week had been postponed “out of an abundance of caution”.
Several other countries have also imposed new restrictions to counter fresh outbreaks.
China imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a province surrounding Beijing to contain a fresh cluster.
Beijing official Xu Hejian described the situation as “severe and complicated”.
And while the British government warned it might have to shut down the city of Leicester because of a spike in cases, it still plans a July 4 reopening of pubs, restaurants and hairdressers across England.
In Paris, police used tear gas to disperse crowds of young people who had gathered for an impromptu party on Saturday evening.
The EU has pushed back a decision on a list of “safe countries” from which travellers can visit Europe — a list which could exclude the US.
Infections are also running higher in India, with densely populated cities particularly hard hit.
Although a nationwide lockdown is gradually being eased, the country set a daily record Saturday with 18,500 new cases and 385 deaths. Total infections are at 509,000, with more than 15,600 deaths.
Iran, which has struggled to curb its outbreak even as it gradually lifted restrictions from April, said it would make mask-wearing mandatory in certain areas from next week.
Many global events have had to be curtailed because of the pandemic, with the 50th anniversary of the first Gay Pride march marked mostly online. — NNN-AGENCIES
