BRUSSELS • The European Union's healthcare systems are in danger of being overwhelmed by the number of coronavirus cases unless the authorities act quickly, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference on Thursday.

"The spread of the virus will overwhelm our healthcare systems if we do not act urgently," she said after a video conference of EU leaders to coordinate the response to the Covid-19 crisis.

As the pandemic raced ahead across the continent, Europe has moved back to being an epicentre of the global onslaught, facing the prospect of a prolonged economic slump alongside a public health crisis.

The worldwide tally rose by more than 500,000 for the first time on Wednesday, a record one-day increase as countries across the northern hemisphere reported daily spikes.

Daily cases globally have grown by nearly 25 per cent in under two weeks as the world witnessed 400,000 daily reported cases for the first time on Friday last week.

Most Western countries and parts of Latin America have posted their highest single-day surges in the past few weeks.

Many governments, with the notable exception of the United States, have started taking stronger measures in a bid to bring the spread of the virus under control.

The global tally stands at 44.7 million cases and about 1.17 million deaths.

Europe, North America and Latin America account for over 66 per cent of worldwide cases and more than 76 per cent of global deaths.

Europe's new daily infections have doubled over the past two weeks as it reported more than 250,000 cases for the first time on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally.

The region has so far reported about 9.5 million cases and about 261,000 deaths.

France logged a new record daily total of more than 50,000 infections for the first time on Sunday.

The second wave of the pandemic has forced many countries across Europe to reimpose restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.

The US continues to lead the worldwide tally - with over nine million infections and more than 227,000 fatalities since the pandemic started.

It is seeing outbreaks in virtually every part of the country shortly before its presidential election on Tuesday.

The country is reporting about 75,000 cases a day on average, according to a Reuters analysis.

The US' death toll from Covid-19 could surpass 500,000 by February next year unless nearly all Americans wear face masks, researchers said.

Asia surpassed 10 million infections on Saturday last week, the second-heaviest regional toll in the world, according to a Reuters tally, as cases continue to mount in India despite a slowdown and sharp declines elsewhere.

India, the world's second most-populous country as well as the second worst-affected country, is reporting about 48,000 cases a day on average, with a total of about eight million cases, according to a Reuters tally.

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to provide any successful vaccine to each of India's 1.3 billion people, the country is preparing a database of all government and private health personnel to speed up vaccinations once they become available.

In the Middle East, Iran, which is the most affected country, is reporting one death every three minutes, according to state television.

REUTERS