A pandemic of the new coronavirus has killed more than 504,000 people worldwide.
More than 10.2 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to a paucity of evidence, many unreported cases, and suspicions that some governments are hiding the extent of their nations’ outbreaks.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the most affected country, with more than 2.5 million diagnosed cases and at least 126,141 deaths.
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6:28 am: Arizona hospitals are on the brink
Hospitals in Arizona are reaching capacity amid a surge in coronavirus cases, according to an internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The note, obtained by ABC News, states that both Flagstaff Medical Center and Little Colorado Medical Center have had zero “surge availability” since June 24. According to the memorandum, patients are being sent to hospitals in Yavapai and Maricopa counties.
Coronavirus-related hospitalizations in Arizona have nearly doubled in the past two weeks, while intensive care units have a capacity of 88%.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Arizona increased from 13,000 on May 15 to 74,500 on Monday, while the number of deaths statewide nearly doubled in the past six weeks. More than 1,500 people in the Grand Canyon state have died from COVID-19.
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5:24 am: Australia to reimpose confinement in Melbourne suburbs
Australian authorities will re-impose closure restrictions on several suburbs around Melbourne, as the country’s second-largest city faces a surge in coronavirus infections.
Starting at 11:59 p.m. M. Local time on July 1, a stay-at-home order will take effect in 10 postcodes in the Melbourne area that have been identified as community transmission access points for the new coronavirus. The blockade will remain in effect until at least July 29, according to a statement released Tuesday by Daniel Andrews, prime minister of the state of Victoria, in southeast Australia.
“I know this will be terribly damaging and difficult, but if everyone sticks to the rules and we see the transmission go down, in four weeks the restrictions can be lifted,” Andrews said.
Residents of the affected zip codes will only be allowed to leave their homes to buy food and supplies, seek and care, exercise and study or go to work, if they cannot do so from home. Businesses and facilities in those areas that have recently reopened, including beauty salons, gyms, libraries, and swimming pools, will again be restricted. The cafes and restaurants will again only be open for takeout and delivery, Andrews said.
“Very clearly, this is not where we wanted to be,” he added. “I understand that people are tired. We are all frustrated. We all want things to go back to the way they were before. And the sooner we do the right thing, the sooner we can get through this.”
Just under 8,000 people in Australia have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and at least 104 of them have died, according to a count maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
4:42 am: WHO will send a team to China to investigate the origin of COVID-19
The World Health Organization is sending a team to China to investigate the origins of the new coronavirus.
“We can fight the virus better when we know everything about the virus, including how it started,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during Monday’s press conference in Geneva.
The first cases of COVID-19 were identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December, months before the rapidly spreading outbreak was declared a pandemic.
Tedros said the investigation team will travel there next week.
“We hope that will lead to an understanding of how the virus started and what we can do to prepare for the future.”
3:32 am: United States reports more than 41,500 new cases
More than 41,500 new cases of COVID-19 were identified in the United States on Monday, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.
The latest number of daily cases increased from the previous day, but still lower than the country’s record of more than 45,000 new cases identified last Friday.
The national total is currently 2,590,582 cases diagnosed with at least 126,141 deaths.
Cases include people from all 50 US states, Washington, DC, and other US territories, as well as repatriated citizens.
By May 20, all states had begun lifting orders to stay home and other restrictions in place to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. The daily increase in cases hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting more than 30,000 and then crossing 40,000 last week.
Almost half of the 50 states have seen an increase in infections in recent weeks, and some, like Florida, South Carolina and Georgia, report daily records.
Josh Margolin of ABC News contributed to this report.
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