The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported another record in the increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases over a 24-hour period, at over 2,30,000. The UN health agency said Sunday the United States again topped the list among countries, with more than 66,000 cases recorded.
Confirmed cases continue to increase, with the three largest counts coming in over the last three days. The previous record was Friday, with more than 2,28,000 newly recorded cases worldwide in a 24-hour span.
Overall, the WHO has counted more than 12.5 million confirmed cases and more than 5,61,000 deaths from COVID-19.
There has been a surge globally. Countries in Eastern Europe are facing rising waves of coronavirus infections, leading to new restrictive measures such as the mandatory use of face masks in Croatia and travel bans or quarantines to be imposed by Hungary.
Romania announced a new high of infections on Saturday, with 698, while 456 new cases were reported Sunday.
Serbia reported 354 new infections on Saturday, although there have been increasing doubts about the accuracy of the figures. Officially, the country has over 18,000 confirmed infections and 382 deaths since March, with health authorities warning that Serbian hospitals are almost full due to the latest surge in cases.
Croatia, whose Adriatic Sea coast is a major tourist destination, will make wearing masks mandatory in stores from Monday, while restaurant staff, but not patrons, will also have to wear face coverings.
Infections are also on the rise in India, which has the most cases after the United States and Brazil, with a record surge of 28,637 cases reported in the past 24 hours as authorities announced a weeklong lockdown beginning Tuesday in the key southern technology hub of Bengaluru, where the offices of top tech companies like Microsoft, Apple and Amazon are located.
South Korea has also reported an uptick in infections around Seoul, its capital, and other major cities, with 44 new cases over the past 24 hours.
The pandemic is also affecting elections in Europe.
In Poland, which is holding a runoff presidential vote Sunday between conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda, and Rafal Trzaskowski, the liberal, pro-European Union mayor of Warsaw, voters must wear masks and gloves, maintain social distancing and use hand sanitizer. They even can use their own pens to mark ballots. Ballot boxes are being disinfected regularly and the polling stations are ventilated.
-Inputs from AP via PTI
