Global coronavirus cases surpass 40 million as pace of pandemic picks up

Name: Global coronavirus cases pass 40 million mark as infection rates rebound in the US and Europe
Uploaded: 2020-10-19T08:50:18.000Z
Duration: 3 min 5 s
Description: Global coronavirus cases pass 40 million mark as infection rates rebound in the US and Europe

It took 32 days to go from 30 million to 40 million, compared to 38 days to get from 20 million to 30 million

The United States, India and Brazil remain the worst affected countries in the world

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An artist creates a mural of a NHS worker in north Manchester, England. Photo: AFP

Reuters

Published: 4:50pm, 19 Oct 2020Updated: 11:43pm, 20 Oct 2020

Worldwide coronavirus cases crossed 40 million on Monday, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, as the onset of winter in the northern hemisphere fuelled a resurgence in the spread of the disease.

Experts believe the true numbers of both cases and deaths were likely much higher, given deficiencies in testing and potential under-reporting by some countries.

Separate Reuters data shows the pace of the pandemic picking up. It took just 32 days to go from 30 million global cases to 40 million, compared with the 38 days it took to get from 20 to 30 million, the 44 days between 10 and 20 million, and the three months it took to reach 10 million cases from when the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China, in early January.

Record one-day increases in new infections were seen at the end of last week, with global coronavirus cases rising above 400,000 for the first time.

There were an average of around 347,000 cases each day over the past week, compared with 292,000 in the first week of October.

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Global coronavirus cases pass 40 million mark as infection rates rebound in the US and Europe

The United States, India and Brazil remain the worst affected countries in the world. Covid-19 cases in North, Central and South America represent about 47.27 per cent or nearly half of global cases.