The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Friday, with the total rising by 228,102 in 24 hours.
The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 212,326 on 4th July. Deaths remained steady at about 5,000 a day.
Workers wearing face-masks are seen travelling through Waterloo Station during the morning rush hour following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, on 6th July. PICTURE: Reuters/Toby Melville/File photo.
Global coronavirus cases exceeded 12 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed more than 555,000 people in seven months.
Meanwhile, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday he was confident a review announced a day earlier of the WHO’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic would not interfere with its response to the disease.
Tedros said the decision to start the inquiry “gives the responsibility actually to me, which is very important, so that we can have a balancing act, so the evaluation doesn’t affect the response”.
“We felt that starting it now can really help us to understand how…the whole response is happening,” he told an online briefing from Geneva.
– With STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and MICHAEL SHIELDS in Geneva
