Coronavirus: US, South Africa, Indonesia see record new daily infections

The US reported 50,700 new Covid-19 cases in a single day, with other countries seeing cases surging as they reopen their economies after lockdowns

The World Health Organisation said smoking is linked to a higher risk of severe illness and death from the coronavirus in hospitalised patients

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Health workers in India travel on a bus to conduct a free medical checkups in Mumbai. Coronavirus cases are surging in India, with over 600,000 infections. Photo: AP

Published: 9:00pm, 2 Jul 2020Updated: 10:38pm, 2 Jul 2020

The United States, South Africa and Indonesia have all reported record new daily coronavirus infections, with US figures surpassing 50,000 cases a day for the first time, underlining the challenges still ahead as nations press to reopen their virus-devastated economies.

Globally there have been 10.7 million coronavirus cases and more than 516,000 dead, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. The true toll of the pandemic is believed to be significantly higher, in part because of limited testing and mild cases that have been missed.

The US has now reported nearly 2.7 million cases and more than 128,000 dead. On Wednesday, it recorded 50,700 new cases, as many states struggled to contain the spread of the pandemic, blamed in part on Americans not wearing masks or following social distancing rules.

Surging numbers in California prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to announce just ahead of the Fourth of July weekend that he was closing bars, theatres and indoor restaurant dining over most of the state, a region that includes about 30 million people and Los Angeles County. “The bottom line is the spread of this virus continues at a rate that is particularly concerning,” Newsom said.

Confirmed cases in California have increased nearly 50 per cent over the past two weeks, and Covid-19 hospitalisation have gone up 43 per cent. Newsom said California had nearly 5,900 new cases and 110 more deaths in just 24 hours.