The World Health Organization announced a record one-day rise in the number of new global coronavirus cases on Thursday, October 8, 2020, with the total increasing by 338,779 in 24 hours led by a surge of infections in Europe.
Europe reported 96,996 new cases, the highest total for the region ever recorded by the UN health agency.
The WHO reported that global deaths rose by 5,514, bringing the global total to 1.05 million. The previous WHO record for new cases was 330,340, which was reported on Oct. 2. The agency had also reported a record 12,393 deaths in April 17. As a region, Europe is now reporting more cases than India, Brazil or the United States, which are the 3 leading countries in the number of reported cases for the disease.
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The UN health agency said that the biggest increases in infections were reported in India, the United States, and Brazil, with India reporting 78,524 new cases, followed by Brazil with 41,906 and the United States with 38,904 new infections.
According to a Reuters analysis of more recent country data, COVID-19 infections are rising in 54 countries, including surges in Argentina, Canada and much of Europe amid fears of a resurgence of the virus.
In Europe, a lockdown has been imposed in the worst-affected regions and there have been renewed appeals for people to wear face masks and follow social distancing rules.
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Infections in the United Kingdom have reached record levels as well, with over 17,000 new cases reported on Thursday.
The medical director for Public Health England, Dr Yvonne Doyle, said, “We are seeing a definite and sustained increase in cases and admissions to hospital. The trend is clear, and it is very concerning.’’
France’s new daily COVID-19 infections remained above the record 18,000 threshold for the second day on Thursday with new measures to curb the outbreak expected.
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The average number of new infections reported in Belgium has been increasing for seven days straight and Germany reported its biggest daily increase in new cases since April on Thursday.
While India still leads the globe in most new cases reported per day, new infections are down 20% from its peak.
In the United States, which has the largest total number of cases and deaths in the world, new infections are edging higher along with the most hospitalized COVID-19 patients since early September.
