WHO Reports Daily Record of New Coronavirus Cases

The agency reported 307,930 additional cases, breaking its previous 24-hour-record of new cases set Sept. 6, with 306,857 new infections, Reuters reported. However, the number of new deaths reported Sunday was far below the previous record. The WHO reported 5,537 new deaths, while its record stands at 12,430 and dates back to April 17. But head of the WHO’s European branch Hans Kluge warned that the pandemic could turn deadlier again in the fall.

“It’s going to get tougher,” he told AFP Monday, as VOA News reported. “In October, November, we are going to see more mortality.”

As of Monday morning, the WHO had reported a total of 28,871,176 cases and 921,801 deaths.

Sunday’s daily case record was driven by cases from India, the U.S. and Brazil, Reuters reported. India reported 94,372 new cases, the U.S. reported 45,523 and Brazil 43,718.

The U.S. continues to lead the world for both coronavirus cases and fatalities. It is responsible for almost a quarter of the world’s cases at more than six million, BBC News reported. It also leads the world for deaths with more than 194,000.

However, the number of new cases reported each day is now declining in the U.S., The Guardian pointed out. It has fallen about 44 percent from a July 16 peak of more than 77,000. Daily totals are also trending downward in Brazil.

In India, however, the daily caseload is on the rise, and the country broke a world record when it reported 97,570 cases in a single day last week, according to Johns Hopkins University data. It now has the second highest number of cases in the world at more than 4.75 million. It also broke a global monthly record for new cases when it reported almost two million for the month of August, according to BBC News.

It has also reported more than 1,000 deaths every day since the beginning of September. Some places are even beginning to run out of medical oxygen, The Guardian reported.

“Many hospitals are getting pretty desperate for getting adequate supplies of oxygen,” Dr. Amit Thadhani, the director of Niramaya Hospital in Navi Mumbai, told The Straits Times.

His hospital currently needs around 90 cylinders of oxygen a day but only has access to around 20, he said.

There are some reports that hospitals in smaller cities of the hard-hit state of Maharashtra have stopped admitting new critically ill COVID-19 patients altogether.

Other countries seeing an upturn in new cases include Argentina, Indonesia, Morocco, Spain and Ukraine, according to Reuters. All told, infections are rising in 58 countries.