A health worker explains to a man how to lie down to collect a swab sample during the coronavirus disease screening test (COVID-19), at a test drive site in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, July 17 2020. REUTERS / Jose Luis González
(Reuters) – The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with a total increase of 259,848 in 24 hours.
The biggest increases reported on Saturday were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 237,743 on Friday. Deaths increased by 7,360, the largest one-day increase since May 10. Deaths have been averaging 4,800 a day in July, slightly more than an average of 4,600 a day in June.
The global total of coronavirus cases exceeded 14 million on Friday, according to a Reuters count, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed nearly 600,000 people in seven months. The increase means that 1 million cases were reported in less than 100 hours.
The WHO reported 71,484 new cases in the United States, 45,403 in Brazil, 34,884 in India and 13,373 in South Africa.
India became the third country in the world to register more than 1 million cases of the new coronavirus on Friday, behind only the United States and Brazil. Epidemiologists say India is likely still months away from reaching its peak.
Cases in Brazil crossed the 2 million mark on Thursday, doubled in less than a month, and added nearly 40,000 new cases per day. A mosaic of state and municipal responses has been poorly maintained in Brazil in the absence of a closely coordinated federal government policy.
The United States, which leads the world with more than 3.7 million cases, has also tried to stem the outbreak at the state and local levels with limited success.
Written by Lisa Shumaker; editing by Jonathan Oatis
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