Coronavirus: What's happening around the world on July 24
WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases, up more than 284,000
The latest:
- Health experts ask Ottawa to decide on funding domestic vaccine trial.
- South Africa again confirms more than 13,000 new daily coronavirus cases.
- Hurricane Douglas bears down on Hawaii as state reports record single-day increase.
- Florida passes 400,000 coronavirus cases.
- India becomes the 7th country to see over 30,000 COVID-19 deaths.
- South Korea reports most new cases since March.
- Ottawa says COVID-19 tracing app now in beta testing.
The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Friday, with the total rising by 284,196 in 24 hours.
Deaths rose by 9,753, the biggest one-day increase since a record high of 9,797 deaths on April 30.
The previous WHO record for new cases was 259,848 on July 18. Deaths have averaged 5,000 a day in July, up from an average of 4,600 a day in June.
The WHO reported 69,641 new cases in the United States, 67,860 in Brazil, 49,310 in India and 13,104 in South Africa. The largest increases in new deaths were 3,876 in Peru, 1,284 in Brazil, 1,074 in the United States, 790 in Mexico and 740 in India.
Peru recently reviewed its COVID-19 data and in one day increased its total death toll by 3,000 to a total of more than 17,000 fatalities.
As of 8 p.m. ET, the global coronavirus case count stood at 15,665,350, with 638,169 deaths due to the virus and 8,982,020 cases considered recovered, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
In the United States, where a world-leading 4.1 million cases have been confirmed, White House coronavirus response co-ordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said Friday that recent surges of cases in the southern parts of the country could make their way north and to other areas.
The densely packed New York metropolitan area had been the hardest-hit section of the country for the first three months of the pandemic, but the daily numbers of cases and deaths declined after a strict lockdown. The number of cases has been growing in southern states, including South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, where hospital officials say they desperately need medication to treat the patients filling up beds.
"We have to change our behaviour now before this virus completely moves back up through the north," Birx told NBC's Today.
Birx said it's difficult for people to understand "how deeply you have to clamp down" with physical distancing, handwashing, mask-wearing and avoiding crowds to stem the spread of the virus.
Birx said that's why health professionals have "called out the next set of cities" where they see early warning signs. If those cities make changes now, they "won't become a Phoenix."
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In a stretch of 10 days last month, Arizona health officials reported on seven occasions more than 3,000 daily cases.
Arizona's Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, has more than 100,000 confirmed cases and more than 1,600 deaths.
Florida passed 400,000 cases, according to the latest figures Friday morning from its department of health. The state saw 135 more people die from COVID-19, for a cumulative statewide death toll of 5,653, though the single-day death total decreased from the previous 24-hour reporting period.
What's happening with coronavirus in Canada
As of 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Canada has seen 113,206 confirmed coronavirus cases. There are 5,418 active cases overall in the provinces and territories, with 98,873 listed as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC's reporting indicates that 8,915 Canadians have died.
The Trudeau government is being pressed to approve funding for a potential, made-in-Canada COVID-19 vaccine to lessen the risk Canadians will have to line up and wait on a foreign-made vaccine.
For instance, health-care professionals have written to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains to urge him make up his mind on a proposal submitted in April by Providence Therapeutics of Toronto. The company is seeking $35 million to establish whether its vaccine is effective in humans after successful animal trials.
They say Canada has no guarantee it will be at the front of the line for any internationally produced vaccine. They attribute government's slowness to a long-standing public policy problem: a reluctance to partner with pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the same way it has tried to bolster other sectors.
The Windsor-Essex area now has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases in Ontario, the region's top doctor said Friday as community spread and outbreaks on local farms continued to grow.
Medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed said new case rates in the southwestern Ontario region passed Toronto and Peel this week with 484 cases per 100,000 people.
WATCH | Researcher on how to stay safe as provinces reopen:
Ahmed said the surge may be attributable to loosened public health restrictions that took effect when the region entered Stage 2 of the provincial economic recovery plan weeks ago. The cases are "stretching" local hospital capacity in Windsor and Leamington, Ont., he added.
Windsor-Essex reported 53 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, attributing 43 of those to agri-food workers.
Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting one new confirmed case of COVID-19. Health officials said on Friday the case involves a woman in the Eastern Health region between the ages of 20 and 39.
The woman is a resident of the province who had recently returned from travel in Southeast Asia. Officials say the woman was symptomatic during her return home and went into self-isolation upon her arrival.
The province has reported a total of 265 cases of COVID-19, 259 of which are considered recovered.
- Chief public health officer hopes Alberta heeds 'wake-up call'
- At least 40 COVID-19 cases linked to Calgary fitness club
- B.C. doctor turns to courts over lack of mask policy in indoor spaces
- Nunavut to release school reopening plan Friday
- Manitoba's Phase 4 reopening goes into effect on Saturday
- Dentists urge Canadians not to put off needed treatment over virus fears
What's happening in the rest of the world
South Africa is again reporting more than 13,000 new daily cases. The country's total increased to 421,996 confirmed cases on Friday.
More than 6,300 people have died in the pandemic in South Africa, which makes up more than half the recorded cases on the African continent.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday that schools would "take a break" for a month to protect children from the surging infections. Businesses are also feeling the financial impact. There were protests by hospitality and restaurant workers this week, calling for more loosening of lockdown restrictions.
In Brazil, Sao Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas says next year's Carnival festivities in February have been cancelled.
Covas says samba schools that take part in the yearly parade and organizers of street parties have agreed to discuss a new date for the four-day extravaganza, possibly between May and June.
Sao Paulo's festivities earlier this year brought more than 15 million people into the streets to celebrate. Rio de Janeiro's Carnival organizers are debating similar measures.
Britain is requiring citizens to wear face coverings in shops effective Friday, joining a long list of countries that have made masks mandatory under some circumstances in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
After weeks of prevarication and days of confused messaging, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government laid down the mask edict on July 13 due to "growing evidence that wearing a face covering in an enclosed space helps protect individuals and those around them from coronavirus."
Many European nations, including Germany, Spain, Italy and Greece, already required masks to be worn in enclosed spaces, but Britain had only made masks obligatory on public transit.
Those who flout the law can be fined up to 100 pounds ($170 Cdn) by police under public health laws.
WATCH | Britain's indoor mask rules go into effect:
Meanwhile, Johnson said Friday he thought the country would be through the coronavirus crisis by mid-2021.
"Whether it came from ... a bat, a pangolin or however it emerged, it was a very, very nasty thing for the human race. And I think by the middle of next year we will be well on the way past it," he told reporters.
WATCH | Should bars and restaurants be shut down following uptick?
Germany's defence minister is praising an army program working to train service dogs to identify the coronavirus in people's saliva, but said there were still many months of work ahead. She made the comments Friday during a visit to a military canine training school.
Service dogs cannot identify the virus itself but can sniff out bio-chemical changes in body fluids caused by it. The dogs, considered comrades by the army, need less than 100 microlitres of saliva to produce results.
WATCH | German dogs trained to sniff out coronavirus:
A humanitarian group says 97 medical workers in Yemen have died of the coronavirus, the first reliable estimate to give a glimpse into the pandemic's impact on the devastated health sector in the war-torn country.
The report by MedGlobal relies on accounts from Yemeni doctors tracking the deaths of colleagues to gauge the toll of the virus. The 97 dead include infectious disease experts, medical directors, midwives and pharmacists. Even before the pandemic Yemen had just 10 doctors for every 10,000 people.
Yemen's internationally recognized government has reported 1,674 confirmed coronavirus infections and 469 deaths.
India has surpassed 30,000 deaths and its COVID-19 fatalities are now sixth in the world.
The Health Ministry on Friday added 740 deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, increasing the toll to 30,601. The total now exceeds France's toll, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.
India also registered a record 49,310 new cases. As cases surge, the Home Ministry advised all government offices, states and officials to avoid congregations for Aug. 15 Independence Day celebrations.
South Korea reported 113 new cases on Saturday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, the largest one-day increase since March, bringing the country's total to 14,092.
Of the new cases, 86 were imported and 27 were domestic infections. Saturday's 113 infections was the highest since March 31, when 125 people were reported with the virus that causes COVID-19.
With files from Reuters and CBC News
