WHO reports record single-day coronavirus cases: Live updates | News

• • Over 212,000 new coronavirus cases were reported globally by the World Health Organization – the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic.

 

• • WHO said that it was discontinuing its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and combination HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 after the medications failed to reduce mortality.

 

• • Mexico has reported 523 more coronavirus deaths, pushing its tally to 30,366 and overtaking France to become the fifth-highest in the world.

 

• • Worldwide cases have reached 11.23 million while 6.04 million patients have recovered, according to the latest Johns Hopkins University tally. The number of deaths worldwide hit more than 530,000.

 

Here are the latest updates.

Sunday, July 5

08:10 GMT – Israel, Palestinians face new restrictions amid virus surge

Israel ordered thousands of people into quarantine after a contentious phone surveillance program resumed as Palestinians in the West Bank returned to life under lockdown after both areas saw surges in coronavirus cases.

A statement from Israel’s Health Ministry said “many” messages had been sent to Israelis following the renewed involvement of the Shin Bet domestic security agency. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that more than 30,000 people were notified they must enter quarantine since Thursday.

“We wanted to continue and open the economy as much as possible but with the amount of infections, which appeared like a very high cliff, it forced us at this point to get involved more aggressively,” Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told Israeli Army Radio.

07:46 GMT – Russia’s coronavirus cases surpass 680,000

Russia reported 6,736 new cases of the novel coronavirus, raising the nationwide tally to 681,251.

The authorities said that 134 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 10,161.

07:24 GMT – Tokyo governor favored to win reelection for handling virus

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is poised to be reelected, buoyed by public support for her coronavirus handling despite a recent rise in infections that has raised concerns of a resurgence of the disease.

The first woman to head the Japanese capital, Koike, 67, is also viewed as a potential candidate to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when his term ends in September 2021. For now, she says she’s focused on protecting the lives of the 14 million people in Tokyo, a megacity with a $1 trillion economy.

07:01 GMT – WHO reports highest single-day surge in infections

The World Health Organization says member states reported more than 212,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the global body, the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic.

The Geneva-based WHO said the highest number of new infections was reported from the Americas region, which includes the United States and Brazil, with almost 130,000 confirmed cases.

WHO’s count can differ from other global case tallies due to official reporting delays.

06:37 GMT – Nearly 25,000 virus cases in India in record daily jump

India saw its biggest surge in COVID-19 cases, with 24,850 new cases and 613 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The country’s tally of infections rose to 673,165 as the death toll zoomed to 19,268, according to the Health Ministry data.

06:10 GMT – Turkish Airlines resumes flights to Indonesia

Turkey’s flag carrier resumed flights to Indonesia after being suspended on March 20 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkish Airlines will resume routes to Indonesia with two flights per week.

05:43 GMT – Croatia votes for new government as pandemic looms

Croatians went to polls to choose a government to navigate the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in a general election campaign that has been dominated by the health crisis.

The pandemic has put the European Union country’s tourism-dependent economy on course for a contraction of nearly 10 percent – its steepest decline in decades.

The ruling conservative HDZ party has been touting its relative success in containing Croatia’s outbreak thus far, with an official tally of roughly 100 deaths and 3,000 infections.

---

Hello, this is Usaid Siddiqui in Doha taking over from my colleague Ted Regencia.

---

04:56 GMT – Bolivia struggles to contain coronavirus

The rising toll of COVID-19 deaths is overwhelming the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, where desperate relatives of one apparent victim of the new coronavirus left his coffin in the street for several hours to protest difficulties in getting him buried.

Neighbour Remberto Arnez said the 62-year-old man had died on June 28 and his body had been in his home ever since, “but that’s risky because of the possible contagion.”

After a few hours, funeral workers showed up and took the coffin to a cemetery in the city of some 630,000 people.

The Andean nation has reported more than 36,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,320 deaths.

04:28 GMT – Australia’s Victoria state reports 74 new cases

The hard-hit Australian state of Victoria has recorded 74 new coronavirus cases on Sunday after announcing a record 108 new infections a day earlier.

The latest increase resulted in state Premier Daniel Andrews announcing a lockdown of nine inner-city public housing blocks containing 3,000 people, where 27 cases have been detected.

Police are guarding every entrance of the housing estates and residents are not allowed to leave their homes for any reason. Australia has over 8,400 cases and 104 deaths as of Sunday.

03:44 GMT – Republican politician’s wife, runningmate possibly exposed to COVID-19

The Associated Press news agency is quoting a Montana newspaper as reporting that the wife and the running mate of Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte, as well as several other top Republican officials, were possibly exposed to the coronavirus while attending an event with the girlfriend of President Donald Trump’s eldest son.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle says Gianforte’s wife, Susan, and lieutenant governor candidate Kristen Juras were at a Trump fundraising event Wednesday with Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr.

The New York Times reports that Guilfoyle was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Friday. Greg Gianforte is a congressman from Montana. He did not attend the event.

03:14 GMT – Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 239 to 196,335

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 239 to 196,335, Reuters reported on Sunday citing data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.

The reported death toll rose by 2 to 9,012, the tally showed.

02:25 GMT – Singapore reports eight new ‘unlinked’ cases

Singapore’s The Straits Times reported early on Sunday that an 82-year-old Singaporean woman is among eight new unlinked community cases that were announced the previous day.

The woman was confirmed to have the virus on Saturday after showing symptoms last Wednesday.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 185 new coronavirus cases in Singapore on Saturday, bringing the total to 44,664. Of the 185 new cases, eight were reported with no known previous links to an infected person, including the 82-year-old woman.

Singapore has managed to keep its death toll low at 26.

02:03 GMT – South Korea reports 61 new cases

South Korea’s daily new virus cases stayed above 60 for the third consecutive day Sunday as infections outside the Seoul metropolitan area continued to swell, Yonhap news agency reported.

The country added 61 cases, including 43 local infections, raising the total caseload to 13,091, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). At least 18 of the cases were imported.

The country, however, reported no additional deaths, with the death toll staying at 283.

01:23 GMT – China reports eight new active cases, seven asymptomatic patients

China reported eight new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 4, compared with three cases a day earlier, Reuters news agency reported on Sunday quoting the health agency.

Six of the new infections were imported cases, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, while the capital Beijing reported two new cases. There were no new deaths.

China reported seven new asymptomatic patients, up from four a day earlier.

As of Saturday, mainland China had 83,553 confirmed coronavirus cases, the health authority said. China’s death toll from the COVID-19 remained 4,634, unchanged since Mid-May.

00:29 GMT – Mexico’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 30,000

Mexico’s health ministry has reported 523 more deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the total to 30,366, and 6,014 new infections, bringing the total to 252,165.

The government has previously said the actual number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the number of confirmed cases.

Citing unpublished figures from the country’s civil registry, broadcaster Milenio reported that as of June 19, nearly twice as many people had died from the coronavirus than were reported by Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell. Reuters news agency was unable to verify the information.

00:05 GMT – Ghana’s president self-isolates after close contact with infected person

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo will self-isolate for 14 days on the advice of doctors after a person in his close circle tested positive for the coronavirus, Reuters news agency reported, quoting a government statement.

“He has, as at today, tested negative, but has elected to take this measure out of the abundance of caution,” the statement said, adding that the president will continue to work during the period, in compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols.

The statement did not say if the close person was a staff or family member.

Ghana has recorded 19,388 coronavirus cases, one of the highest number of cases in sub-Saharan Africa, with 117 deaths.

The West African nation’s deputy trade and industry minister, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, resigned on Friday after violating coronavirus self-isolation measures following a positive test for the virus.

00:01 GMT – Brazil registers 37,923 new cases of coronavirus, 1,091 deaths

Brazil has recorded 37,923 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours as well as 1,091 deaths, Reuters news agency reported, quoting the country’s health ministry.

Brazil has registered more than 1.5 million cases since the pandemic began, while cumulative deaths total 64,265, according to the ministry.

___________________________________________________________________

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

You can find all the latest developments from yesterday, July 4, here.