The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global Covid-19 cases for the second day in a row, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours.
Photo: AFP
The biggest increases reported on Saturday were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report.
The previous WHO record for new cases was 237,743 on Friday. Deaths rose by 7360, the biggest one-day increase since 10 May. Deaths have been averaging 4800 a day in July, up slightly from an average of 4600 a day in June.
Total global coronavirus cases surpassed 14 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed nearly 600,000 people in seven months.
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The WHO reported 71,484 new cases in the United States, 45,403 in Brazil, 34,884 in India and 13,373 in South Africa.
India on Friday became the third country in the world to record more than 1m cases of the new coronavirus, behind only the United States and Brazil. Epidemiologists say India is still likely months from hitting its peak.
Cases in Brazil crossed the 2m mark on Thursday, doubling in less than a month and adding nearly 40,000 new cases a day. A patchwork of state and city responses has held up poorly in Brazil in the absence of a tightly coordinated policy from the federal government.
The United States, which leads with world with over 3.7m cases, has also tried to curb the outbreak at the state and local levels with only limited success.
- Reuters