Global coronavirus cases rose by more than 500,000 on Wednesday, Reuters reports, a record one-day increase as countries across the Northern Hemisphere reported rising cases.
Global daily Covid-19 cases have risen by nearly 25% in less than two weeks as the world witnessed 400,000 daily reported cases for the first time last Friday.
Most western countries and parts of Latin America have reported their highest single-day surges in the past few weeks. Many governments, with the notable exception of the US, have started taking stronger measures to bring the spread of the virus under control.
The global coronavirus tally stands at 44.7 million cases and about 1.17 million deaths.
Europe, North America and Latin America account for over 66% of global cases and over 76% of global deaths.
Europe’s new daily infections have doubled over the past two weeks as it reported more than 250,000 cases for the first time on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally.
The region has so far reported about 9.5 million cases and about 261,000 deaths.
France reported a new record daily total of more than 50,000 infections for the first time on Sunday.
The US broke its daily record for new coronavirus infections on Friday as it reported 84,169 new cases due to outbreaks in virtually every part of the country shortly before its presidential election on Tuesday.
The US is reporting about 75,000 cases a day on an average, according to a Reuters analysis, and its death toll from Covid-19 could surpass 500,000 by February unless nearly all Americans wear face masks, researchers said.
Asia surpassed 10 million infections on Saturday, according to a Reuters tally, as cases continue to mount in India.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi promised to provide any successful vaccine to each of India’s 1.3 billion people, and the country is preparing a database of all government and private health personnel to speed up vaccinations once they become available.
In the Middle East, Iran is reporting one death every three minutes, according to state television.
