The most affected country in the world, the United States, had registered 5.99 million cases of infection.
Washington, United States:
The United States approached six million coronavirus cases on Sunday, nearly a quarter of the planet’s total, as nations around the world struggle to contain the pandemic.
Global coronavirus infections topped 25 million, as countries tightened restrictions to stem the health crisis that has disrupted the lives of most of humanity.
An additional one million cases have been detected around the world roughly every four days since mid-July, according to an AFP tally, and on Sunday India set the record for the largest single-day increase in cases at 78,761.
The worst-affected country in the world, the United States, had recorded 5.99 million cases of infection as of 00:30 GMT on Monday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. And the death toll exceeds 183,000.
The United States reached 5 million cases three weeks ago, just 17 days after hitting 4 million, the tracker said.
The virus has hampered America’s economy, the world’s largest, and clouded President Donald Trump’s re-election prospects, which were once promising.
As Trump faces enormous pressure to curb the contagion, the head of the US Food and Drug Administration, Stephen Hahn, raised the possibility that a still elusive vaccine could receive emergency approval before the end of the years. trials designed to ensure their safety and effectiveness.
The virus has proven to be a stubborn foe even in countries like New Zealand and South Korea, which had previously controlled its outbreaks to a large extent, but are now battling new clusters of infections.
On the other side of the world, Latin America, the most affected region, is still struggling with its first wave, with deaths from Covid-19 in Brazil exceeding 120,000, second only to the United States.
Nearly 855,000 people have died from Covid-19 around the world, and without any vaccine or effective treatment yet available, governments have been forced to resort to some form of social distancing and lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus.
The masks will be mandatory starting Monday on public transport and flights in New Zealand, which went more than 100 days without local broadcast before the current group emerged.
And tighter restrictions against the virus began Sunday in South Korea, which is also battling new groups, including in the Seoul region, home to half the country’s population.
In Iraq, thousands of Shiite pilgrims wearing gloves and masks flooded the holy city of Karbala to commemorate Ashura, in one of the largest Muslim gatherings since the pandemic began.
Typically millions of Shiites from around the world flock to the shrine, but this year’s commemoration was tempered with employees spraying disinfectant mist, controlling temperatures and reinforcing social distancing.
“It stands out because there are so few people,” Fadel Hakim said, a blue medical mask cupping his chin.
‘Anti-corona’ rallies in Europe
Despite all the grim numbers, there has been consistent opposition to closures and social distancing measures in many parts of the world, often due to their crushing financial cost.
But resistance has also come from the far left and right of the political spectrum, as well as conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccine activists.
In Berlin on Saturday, thousands gathered to march against coronavirus restrictions, but police later stopped the rally because many participants were not respecting social distancing measures.
Protesters waved German flags and shouted slogans against Chancellor Angela Merkel who is often used by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Similar protests took place in London and Zurich, where some carried posters supporting the far-right QAnon movement, which promotes bizarre theories about Satan-worshiping cabal and “deep state” plots, without any credible evidence.
The pandemic has disrupted economies and societies around the world and brought to a halt most large gatherings, from sports and music to religion and politics.
In Spain, soccer superstar Lionel Messi missed a virus test at Barcelona’s training ground, club sources confirmed, raising the possibility that he may boycott the preseason to force a transfer from the Spanish club.
Without a coronavirus test, Messi will not be able to join his teammates for new manager Ronald Koeman’s first training session on Monday.
The world’s major sporting, cultural and musical events face the challenge of hosting spectators and reducing the risk of virus transmission.
The US Open tennis tournament was also affected, announcing that an unidentified player had been withdrawn after testing positive.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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