The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Friday, with the total rising by 284,196 in 24 hours.
Deaths rose by 9,753, the biggest one-day increase since a record high of 9,797 deaths on 30th April.
General view during a press conference of the World Health Organization amid the COVID-19 outbreak at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on 3rd July. PICTURE: Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via Reuters/File photo.
The previous WHO record for new cases was 259,848 on 18th July. Deaths have averaged 5,000 a day in July, up from an average of 4,600 a day in June.
The WHO reported 69,641 new cases in the United States, 67,860 in Brazil, 49,310 in India and 13,104 in South Africa. The largest increases in new deaths were 3,876 in Peru, 1,284 in Brazil, 1,074 in the United States, 790 in Mexico and 740 in India.
Peru recently reviewed its COVID-19 data and in one day increased its total death toll by 3,000 to a total of over 17,000 fatalities.
India on 17th July became the third country in the world to record more than one million cases of the new coronavirus, behind only the United States and Brazil. Epidemiologists say India is still likely months from hitting its peak.
Cases in Brazil crossed the two million mark on 16th July, doubling in less than a month as the country adds nearly 40,000 new cases a day. A patchwork of state and city responses has held up poorly in Brazil, in the absence of a tightly coordinated policy from the federal government.
The United States, which leads the world with over four million cases, has also tried to curb the outbreak at the state and local level, with only limited success.
