US coronavirus cases smash daily record

New daily coronavirus cases in the United States soared past 50,000 for the first time on Wednesday, as the World Health Organisation delivered a grave warning that the global pandemic is accelerating.

Restaurants, bars and beaches in the world’s worst-hit nation closed from California to Florida, as states reeling from yet another surge in the deadly virus braced for Independence Day festivities.

Global infections have hit their highest level in the past week, WHO data showed, with chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying new cases topped “160,000 on every single day”.

The grim milestone came as the European Union left the US, Brazil and Russia off its final list of nations safe enough to allow residents to enter its borders.

With more than 52,000 new Covid-19 cases in the US alone in the past 24 hours, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, several US states imposed 14-day quarantines on visitors in the buildup to the weekend’s July 4 celebrations.

California suspended dining at restaurants in Los Angeles and several counties, while New York scrapped plans to allow restaurants to seat customers next week.

The rollbacks came as the European Union reopened its borders to visitors from 15 countries.

Travellers from China, where the virus first emerged late last year, will be allowed to enter the EU only if Beijing reciprocates.

Brazil, which suffered the most deaths for the last week and is the second-worst affected country overall, was excluded entirely.