Global COVID-19 infections have surpassed 10 million as the rate of new cases surges, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally yesterday showed.
One million new cases were recorded in only six days, while the worldwide death toll is also nearing 500,000.
The US, the hardest hit country, has surpassed 2.5 million cases alone.
Photo: Reuters
Infections are also up in some other parts of the world that have reopened, with Europe now registering more than 2.6 million, according to the AFP tally based on official sources.
New clusters of cases at a Swiss nightclub and in the central English city of Leicester showed that the virus is still circulating widely in Europe, while experts say all the figures significantly undercount the true toll, due to limited testing and missed mild cases.
On Saturday alone the US recorded more than 43,000 new cases, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed. US deaths exceed 125,000, about one-quarter the world total.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has conceded there has been an “explosion” in new cases in his state, which on Saturday recorded 9,585 cases in 24 hours, a new daily record.
US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has confirmed that events featuring Vice President Mike Pence in Arizona and Florida this week have been postponed “out of an abundance of caution.”
Russia yesterday recorded 6,791 new cases, bringing its confirmed infections to more than 634,000, the third-highest number in the world after the US and Brazil.
Brazil recorded 990 deaths on Saturday, the highest toll in the world that day, while Mexico recorded the second-highest at 719.
The EU on Saturday pushed back a final decision on a list of “safe countries” from which travelers can visit Europe.
Meanwhile music stars and groups, including Coldplay and Jennifer Hudson, on Saturday lent support to a European Commission-led drive that raised 6.15 billion euros (US$6.9 billion) to support vaccine research and help make it available to poorer nations.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS