Five months since the WHO declared the coronavirus crisis a global pandemic, the number of COVID-19 cases globally is nearing 20 million, with almost 730,000 known deaths.
The current number of confirmed infections stands at 19,869,127, data from Johns Hopkins University showed yesterday, with total new cases daily averaging more than 250,000.
The bleak milestone approached as Australia recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic, with 19 deaths. The nation is dealing with an outbreak in its second-largest city, Melbourne, where authorities have struggled to contain the spread of the virus, which began in quarantine facilities.
Photo: AFP
Metropolitan Melbourne is one week into a strict lockdown expected to last until Sept. 13, with the rest of the state of Victoria under stage-three restrictions.
The state yesterday saw its biggest decrease in the number of new daily cases — at about 300 after highs of 700 — with Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews saying the drop could signify “greater stability that is a result of the cumulative impact of stage three.”
Global coronavirus cases have doubled in just six weeks, and have risen 200-fold since mid-March. Deaths have increased from more than 4,000 globally at the time of the WHO declaration to more than 731,450 now.
The US, which on Sunday passed 5 million infections, accounted for a quarter of the global case total and one in five deaths worldwide. It is the worst-affected country in the number of cases and fatalities.
One in every 65 Americans has tested positive for coronavirus, while one in 2,000 has died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Infections among US children grew 40 percent in the last half of last month, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
The study said 97,078 new child cases were reported from July 16 to 30, bringing the total number since the pandemic began to 338,982. That represents 8.8 percent of all infections.
The range of ages varied from state to state, with some including an age limit as high as 24.
California, Florida and Arizona had the highest number of child cases, with more than 20,000 each.
Meanwhile, Brazil, with more than 3 million infections, is the next-worst-affected nation. On Sunday, the country passed its own somber milestone, as the death toll climbed past 101,000.
Meanwhile in China, new locally transmitted cases fell to just 14 in the past 24 hours, the China National Health Commission reported yesterday.
However, the low figure was offset by 35 cases brought into the country by Chinese travelers from overseas arriving in seven different cities and provinces.
All the cases of local transmission were in Xinjiang, whose main city, Urumqi, is the center of China’s latest outbreak.
Britain, which has 312,574 cases and the fourth-highest number of deaths globally, with 46,659, saw cases rise by 1,062 on Sunday, going over 1,000 for the first time since late June.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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