Coronavirus: Record daily increase of 230,000 cases worldwide, WHO reports

The spike was down to large increases in positive Covid-19 cases from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, as the nations grapple to curb the pandemic

The World Health Organisation has reported a record increase in coronavirus cases around the world for the third time in eight days, with the total number of infections rising by 230,370 in a 24-hour period.

The spike was down to large increases in positive Covid-19 cases from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, as the nations grapple to curb the pandemic.

The previous WHO record for new cases was 228,102 on Friday, 10 July. That broke a previous record set six days.

Global coronavirus cases were approaching 13 million on Sunday, according to WHO figures. More than 565,000 people have died globally from the virus in seven months.

Florida reported an increase of 15,299 coronavirus cases on Sunday — the highest single-day increase of any US state since the pandemic began. The US has more than three million confirmed cases, according to WHO data, and 133,486 deaths.

Some 71,469 people have died in Brazil from the coronavirus, more than any other country outside the US, with 1.8 million confirmed cases. President Jair Bolsonaro announced that he had tested positive on Tuesday, and said he was quarantining while also taking the unproven drug hydroxychloroquine. He has downplayed the severity of the virus, repeatedly calling it a "little flu" and derided mayors and governors who have implemented restrictions to contain the spread, arguing the economic impacts would be worse.

In just three weeks, India went from the world’s sixth worst-affected country by the coronavirus to the third, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. India’s fragile health system was bolstered during a stringent months-long lockdown but could still be overwhelmed by an exponential rise in infections.

India has tallied 793,802 infections and more than 21,600 deaths, with cases doubling every three weeks. It’s testing more than 250,000 samples daily after months of sluggishness, but experts say this is insufficient for a country of nearly 1.4 billion people.

South Africa has also seen a rapid increase in reported cases and is ranked as the 9th country most affected by the disease, according to Johns Hopkins.

The country has reported increases of more than 10,000 confirmed cases for several days and the latest daily increase was nearly 13,500. South Africa accounts for 40% of all the confirmed cases in Africa, with 276,242, an increase of 12,058 in one day.

South Africa has recorded 4,079 deaths, 25% of which have been in the past week, said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Additional reporting by agencies