Global coronavirus cases hit 10 million
The world surpassed two sobering coronavirus milestones yesterday — 500,000 confirmed deaths, 10 million confirmed cases — and hit another high mark for daily new infections as governments that attempted reopenings continued to backtrack and warn that worse news could be yet to come.
‘‘Covid-19 has taken a very swift and very dangerous turn in Texas over just the past few weeks,’’ said Governor Greg Abbott, who allowed businesses to start reopening in early May but on Friday shut down bars and limited restaurant dining amid a spike in cases.
Victorians in Australia were warned they might be legally forced to minimise their movements to help contain the spread of coronavirus after the state recorded 75 new cases yesterday.
Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said the rise in cases on was concerning but big numbers could be turned around if people ‘‘do the right thing’’.
South Africa’s health minister warned that the country’s current surge of cases is expected to rapidly increase in the coming weeks and push hospitals to the limit. Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize said the current rise in infections has come from people who ‘‘moved back into the workplace’’.
New clusters of cases at a Swiss nightclub and in the central English city of Leicester showed that the virus was still circulating widely in Europe, though not with the rapidly growing infection rate seen in parts of the United States, Latin America and India.
In Texas, Abbott appeared with Vice President Mike Pence, who cut campaign events from upcoming visits to Florida and Arizona because of rising virus cases in those states.
Pence urged people to wear masks when unable to practice social distancing. He and Abbott wore face masks as they entered and left the room, taking them off while speaking to reporters.
The World Health Organisation announced another daily record in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the world — topping over 189,000 in a single 24-hour period. The tally eclipses the previous record a week earlier at over 183,000 cases, showing case counts continue to progress worldwide.
Overall the US still has far and away the most total cases at more than 2,548,000 — roughly twice that of Brazil. The number of actual cases worldwide is much higher.
New York, once the nation’s pandemic epicentre, is now ‘‘on the exact opposite end,’’ Governor Andrew Cuomo said in an interview with Meet the Press.
The state reported five new virus deaths Saturday, its lowest reported daily death toll since March 15. During the state’s peak pandemic in April, nearly 800 people were dying every day. New York still leads the nation in Covid-19 deaths with nearly 25,000.
Britain’s government, meanwhile, is considering whether a local lockdown is needed for Leicester amid reports about a spike in Covid-19 among its Asian community. It would be Britain’s first local lockdown.
Italy was honoring its dead with an evening requiem concert in hard-hit Bergamo province. The ceremony in the onetime epicentre of the European outbreak came a day after Italy registered the lowest daily tally of Covid-19 deaths in nearly four months.