Daily US Times: The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that the number of new cases of coronavirus rose by almost 260,000 in 24 hours – the largest single-day rise in global coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
This is the first time the number of new daily infections has surpassed a quarter of a million, WHO says.
This is the first time the number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed a quarter of a million, while the previous record rise in new confirmed cases was recorded by WHO just one day earlier. The biggest increases in the last 24 hours were in the US, Brazil, India, and South Africa.
The global death toll from coronavirus also rose by 7,360 – the largest daily increase since 10 May.
According to the tally kept by US-based Johns Hopkins University, the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus passed 14 million on Saturday, with over 600,000 recorded deaths.
What happened in the US?
Cases are surging in several US states, particularly in southern states that were initially reluctant to mandate the wearing of masks or enforce lockdowns. Arizona, Florida and Texas have seen particularly high surges.
Florida is currently the epicentre of the US epidemic as on Saturday, the state recorded more than 10,000 new infections and 90 more deaths, bringing its total number of cases to more than 337,000 and its death toll to more than 5,000.
Hospitals across the state had also warned in recent weeks that their ICUs were at capacity and that they were unable to accept any new patients.
Measures to stem the spread of the virus, including wearing masks in public places, have become highly politicised in the US.
On Friday, US’s top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci urged local and state leaders to be “forceful” in making sure people wore masks, although President Donald Trump later said he would not mandate mask-wearing on a national level.
What is the situation of other countries?
The coronavirus and measures to contain it have been highly politicised in Brazil also, cases continue to surge – although WHO announced earlier this week that cases were no longer increasing exponentially.
India could still be months away from the peak of its outbreak, scientists have also warned – despite the country already having the third-highest number of confirmed cases. Hospitals in the worst-hit cities, including Bangalore and Mumbai, have been overwhelmed with patients.
In a 24-hour period on Saturday, India saw 671 deaths linked to coronavirus and recorded another 34,884 infections.
South Africa saw one of the largest single-day rises in cases. The country has the highest number of confirmed infections on the African continent.
However, there are localised surges across Spain, while the worst situation being in the country’s north-eastern Catalonia region.
The region has again recorded a daily increase in confirmed cases of more than 1,000, and about four million people in Barcelona, El Segrià and La Noguera have been ordered to stay at home for 15 days.
Among the measures imposed are a ban on visits to nursing homes, a ban on public or private meetings of more than 10 people and the closure of gyms and nightclubs.
Just bout four weeks ago, Spain ended its tough national lockdown and was hoping to kick-start the economy, particularly with tourism numbers.
On Saturday, the streets of Barcelona were reported emptier, although some residents may have defied orders and headed off in cars for second homes.
Neighboring France is now considering closing borders with Spain in response to the surge.
New Prime Minister Jean Castex said when asked whether a closure of borders could be possible: “We are monitoring this very closely, here in particular, because it is a real issue that we also need to discuss with the Spanish authorities.”
The border of Franch was only reopened to general citizens on 21 June.
Discussions in Brussels on Saturday over a huge post-coronavirus economic recovery plan ground on. The second day of talks received mixed reviews while Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said talks were deadlocked but disagreeing with that, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he thought they were going in the right direction.
The surge in global coronavirus cases amid a time when many countries are desperately trying to get back to normal life.
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