Global cases cross 11m as countries record spike in infections

WASHINGTON • Worldwide coronavirus cases crossed 11 million yesterday after several states in the US as well as Japan, South Korea and Australia recorded a resurgence in infections.

Alabama and six other US states reported record increases in coronavirus cases on Friday as Florida's most populous county imposed a curfew ahead of the Independence Day weekend and Arkansas joined a push towards mandating mask-wearing in public.

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska, Missouri, Idaho and Alabama all registered new daily highs in cases of Covid-19.

Texas hit a new peak for hospitalisations, with one doctor calling for a "complete lockdown" in the state to get the virus under control.

The daily US tally of cases stood at 53,483 late on Friday, below the previous day's record 55,405.

The recent surge, most pronounced in southern and western states, alarmed public health officials, who urged caution ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Despite the jump in infections, the average daily death toll in the United States has gradually declined in recent weeks, a reflection of the growing proportion of positive tests among younger, healthier people who are less prone to severe outcomes.

However, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned that the impact on fatalities from the recent surge, which started in the middle of last month, had yet to be seen.

"Deaths lag at least two weeks and can lag even more," he told morning show Fox & Friends on Friday.

In Japan, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike urged residents of the Japanese capital not to travel beyond its borders yesterday as new coronavirus infections topped 100 for a third day, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Tokyo confirmed 131 new cases of infections of the coronavirus yesterday, NHK said.

Cases in Tokyo have risen to a two-month high, driven by the spread of the virus in the capital's night spots.

Of yesterday's tally, 100 were people in their 20s and 30s, Kyodo news agency said, citing Ms Koike.

South Korea yesterday confirmed 63 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, raising the total tally to 13,030, according to data from the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

One more patient died from the disease, bringing the total death toll to 283. The nation reported the same number of new cases on Friday in the biggest gain in two weeks.

Australia's second-most populous state Victoria reported its biggest jump in coronavirus cases since late March yesterday, forcing it to expand stay-at-home orders to two more suburbs, and sending nine public housing towers in a complete lockdown.

The south-eastern state recorded 108 new cases yesterday, up from 66 on Friday and more than 70 new cases in each of the previous four days, forcing the authorities to reimpose lockdowns in more than 30 suburbs earlier in the week.

"These numbers are a very real concern to all of us," Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference.

The spike in Victoria is being closely watched, as the rest of the country has reined in the virus that causes Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has updated its account of the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis to say it was alerted by its own office in China, and not by China itself, to the first pneumonia cases in Wuhan.

It indicated that it was the WHO office in China that on Dec 31 notified its regional point of contact of a case of "viral pneumonia" after having found a declaration for the media on a Wuhan health commission website on the issue.

WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a press conference on Friday that countries have 24 to 48 hours to officially verify an event and provide the agency with additional information about the nature or cause of an event.

Dr Ryan added that the Chinese authorities immediately contacted WHO as soon as the agency asked to verify the report.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE