Global coronavirus outlook worsens with single-day record number of cases, WHO says

Six months into the global coronavirus pandemic, the number of new cases in a single day reached a record high Sunday, reported the World Health Organization.

“Although the situation in Europe is improving, globally it is worsening,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.

Coronavirus cases also are rising in 22 states in the United States, with sharp spikes seen in California, Arizona and North Carolina, The New York Times reported.

Globally, the 136,000 new coronavirus cases reported worldwide Sunday represent the largest single-day increase since the pandemic began, Tedros said.

The number of new cases worldwide also rose by more than 100,000 on nine of the 10 previous days, he said.

More than 7.1 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 407,000 deaths as of Tuesday, June 9, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 1.9 million confirmed cases with more than 111,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic. In the United States, President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

“More than six months into this pandemic, this is not the time for any country to take its foot off the pedal,” Tedros said during a media briefing on Monday.

Almost 75% of Sunday’s new cases come from 10 nations in the Americas and South Asia, he said. Tedros also expressed concern about Africa, which continues to see increases although the total number of cases in most nations is still below 1,000.

In nations that are starting to reopen after lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19, “the biggest threat now is complacency,” Tedros said. He urged continued diligence in testing and social distancing efforts.

A database of U.S. coronavirus cases compiled by The New York Times shows 22 states with increases in new cases over the past 14 days, though in some cases it may be due to rises in testing, according to the publication.

Coronavirus has up to a 14-day incubation period, so the current rise in cases cannot be a result of recent protests over the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which began about 10 days ago, experts say.

The database shows sharp spikes in cases in North Carolina, California and Arizona, all of which have recently started to reopen from stay-at-home orders, The New York Times reports.

Experts in Arizona are worried about hospital capacity, KPNX reported.

“If we continue for the next several weeks like we have the past few, it’s very possible that we’ll run out of capacity in our hospitals and ICUs sometime in early July,” said Joe Gerald, program director for public health policy and management at the University of Arizona’s Zuckerman College of Public Health, according to the station.

In Los Angeles County, 81 people died of coronavirus over the weekend — the highest weekend total in more than a month, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Health officials said the transmission rate of the virus appears to be increasing with more people out in public, according to the publication.

And Texas has a record number of coronavirus patients in its hospitals, with 1,935 people hospitalized for COVID-19, CNBC reported.

This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Global coronavirus outlook worsens with single-day record number of cases, WHO says."