Coronavirus tracked: 57 countries see surge in new cases as global count passes 25m

Ending lockdowns too early may be ‘recipe for disaster’, WHO boss warns

More than 50 countries around the world are experiencing a rise in new coronavirus cases, according to the latest figures.

Looking at the seven-day rolling average for confirmed cases of Covid-19, there is a clear upward trend in at least 57 countries.

For other countries there is insufficient data or a lack of a clearly defined upward trajectory, though there are dozens more that are yet to see a decline in new cases.

Europe, north Africa and south Asia have the highest concentration of countries that are experiencing an upswing in coronavirus cases.

Data compiled by OurWorldInData shows that the United Kingdom is among the top worst-hit countries currently seeing a surge in new daily cases.

Argentina is reporting the highest number of new cases per capita out of all of the countries experiencing a surge, with more than 200 new cases per million people each day.

This is still the first wave for the South American country, and it continues to see new daily highs.

Spain is close to seeing record numbers of new daily cases in what is now its second wave of the deadly virus. The 162 new daily cases per million people is nearly equivalent to its peak in late March, when it saw close to 170 new cases each day.

The US and Brazil are the worst-affected countries in the world in terms of cumulative cases, though both countries are seeing daily cases begin to drop.

The number of new cases globally appears to be neither increasing nor decreasing, having peaked and flattened at just over 250,000 new daily cases since late July.

This rate of infection means it has taken less than three weeks for the total number of worldwide cases to rise from 20 million to 25 million.

As new daily cases continue to rise in dozens of countries, the World Health Organisation warned leaders to prepare for the potential reintroduction of lockdown restrictions.

Opening up countries too early could be a “recipe for disaster”, according to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“WHO fully supports efforts to reopen economies and societies. We want to see children returning to school and people returning to the workplace – but we want to see it done safely,” he said during a media briefing on Monday.

“At the same time, no country can just pretend the pandemic is over. The reality is that this coronavirus spreads easily, it can be fatal to people of all ages, and most people remain susceptible.”