The global death toll from COVID-19 now exceeds one million. In India The official count of confirmed coronavirus cases has now exceeded six million people, with almost 100,000 deaths reported from the pandemic. India has the second highest number of cases worldwide, after the United States. About 80,000 new infections are recorded each day – the world’s highest daily rise. Despite this, the government is unlikely to reimpose the lockdown it has lifted, after harsh restrictions battered the economy and wrecked the livelihoods of millions of people.
Many parts of the world are seeing a resurgence of infections – such as Manaus Brazil’s largest city in the Amazon. Researchers thought Manaus could be one of the world’s first places to reach herd immunity, but the numbers say otherwise. Authorities shut beaches and closed bars and the mayor is angry that the Brazilian government is not sending a clear message.
There are fresh doubts over the true number of virus deaths in Mexico. Officials say the death toll of more-than-76-thousand is an undercount. The top coronavirus official also says calculating the final statistics will take a couple of years.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said travel between her country and some Australian states may be possible by Christmas. Plans for a travel bubble have been under discussion for months.
South Korea has reported just 50 new cases of COVID-19, its lowest daily increase in seven weeks. The drop is probably due to stricter social distancing measures introduced to stop the spread of the virus.
