Global coronavirus tally soars past 25 million as India hits daily record

Nearly 40 per cent of all reported Covid-19 cases are in the United States and Brazil, the two worst-hit countries

India registered a record new 78,761 cases in the past 24 hours, the worst single-day spike in the world

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Melanie Olmeda and her six-year-old son Mason Gutierrez visit Los Angeles Zoo after its reopening. Photo: TNS

Published: 2:46pm, 30 Aug 2020Updated: 10:29pm, 30 Aug 2020

Global coronavirus infections soared past 25 million on Sunday, as countries around the world further tightened restrictions to try to stop the rampaging pandemic.

A million additional cases have been detected globally roughly every four days since mid-July, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, with India on Sunday setting the record for the highest single-day rise in cases with 78,761.

The surge in India, home to 1.3 billion people, came as the government further eased lockdown restrictions on the weekend to help ease pressure on the reeling economy.

Even nations such as New Zealand and South Korea, which had previously brought their outbreaks largely under control, are now battling new clusters of infections.

On the other side of the world, Latin America – the worst-hit region – was still struggling with its first wave, with Covid-19 deaths in Brazil crossing 120,000, second only to the United States., which has recorded almost six million cases and 183,000 deaths.

Brazil’s curve “has stabilised now, but at a very dangerous level: nearly 1,000 deaths and 40,000 cases per day,” said Christovam Barcellos, a researcher at public health institute Fiocruz.