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The new coronavirus has so far infected more than 19.6 million people and claimed the lives of over 727,000 others around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Data shows that 19,654,273 people have contracted COVID-19 and 727,111 have died.
Latin America remains the world’s hardest hit region, surpassing six million confirmed cases of the infection.
Brazil went beyond 100,000 coronavirus deaths and three million cases of infection on Saturday, five months after its first case.
The following is the latest on the coronavirus pandemic from the past 24 hours:
Mexico’s coronavirus death tally exceeds 52,000
Mexico’s health ministry on Saturday reported 6,495 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 695 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 475,902 cases and 52,006 deaths.
Officials have said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Mexico has the third highest coronavirus death tally globally, behind the United States and Brazil.
Russia’s coronavirus cases surpass 885,000
Russia reported 5,189 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, bringing its nationwide tally to 887,536, the fourth largest caseload in the world.
Russia’s coronavirus task force said 77 people had died over the last 24 hours, pushing its official death toll to 14,931.
New Zealand records 100 days without domestic virus
New Zealand marked 100 days without a domestic transmission of the coronavirus on Sunday, but warned against complacency as countries like Vietnam and Australia which once had the virus under control now battle a resurgence in infections.
New Zealand’s successful fight against COVID-19 has made the Pacific island nation of 5 million one of the safest places in the world right now.
New Zealanders have returned to normal life, but authorities are concerned that people were now refusing testing, not using the government contact tracing apps, and even ignoring basic hygiene rules.
“Achieving 100 days without community transmission is a significant milestone, however, as we all know, we can’t afford to be complacent,” Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.
“We have seen overseas how quickly the virus can re-emerge and spread in places where it was previously under control, and we need to be prepared to quickly stamp out any future cases in New Zealand,” he said.
New Zealand has 23 active cases in managed isolation facilities, and 1,219 COVID-19 cases in all so far.
Vietnam, which went for three months without detecting any domestic transmission, is now racing to control a new outbreak in Danang.
Neighboring Australia’s second-biggest city, Melbourne, has gone into a six week lockdown due to a surge in cases. The second wave of cases in Melbourne has been largely a result of lapses in quarantining.
“For countries like Australia and New Zealand the source of such outbreaks is likely to be from managed isolation and quarantine facilities because of the large numbers of people held there and the multiple shifts of staff involved in looking after them,” said Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health at the University of Otago.
There have been cases of returning New Zealanders sneaking out of quarantine, and other security slip ups.
New Zealand last week ramped up testing at quarantine facilities and clinics, and started work on technology to track people using Bluetooth technology.
Ardern kicked off her re-election campaign on Saturday calling it a “COVID election.”
But a resurgence of cases due to “COVID fatigue” could spark a backlash against her, and give the opposition a chance to work their way back into the election contest.
Australia’s Victoria reports deadliest day of pandemic
Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, reported its deadliest day of the COVID-19 outbreak on Sunday, with 17 people dying, as police thwarted a planned anti-mask rally in the capital of Melbourne.
Victoria, at the center of a second wave of infections in Australia, reported 394 cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, compared with a daily average of 400-500 over the past week. The new deaths bring the state’s total to 210.
The southeastern state, with infections concentrated in Melbourne, accounts for a lion’s share of the national tally of more than 21,000 and 295 deaths.
In an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, Victoria has imposed a night curfew, tightened restrictions on people’s daily movements and ordered large parts of the economy to close.
Those measures have helped, although the situation remains challenging, as cases with unknown sources of infection continue to increase, said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews.
The state reported 174 such “mystery” cases in the past 24 hours, up from 130 on Saturday and bringing the total to 2,758.
“Even large numbers in known contained outbreaks are, to a certain extent, less significant than the smaller number of cases where we simply can’t find the circumstance or point of origin,” Andrews told reporters.
“They’re the ones that are incredibly challenging from a containment point of view.”
Victoria’s coronavirus reproduction rate is around 1, meaning each infected person is passing the virus on to at least one other person.
“We have to drive that down, so that every third or fourth person who has it is infecting someone else. That’s where we’ll see the numbers halve and halve again and become more manageable,” Andrews said. “That will essentially take time.”
Earlier in the day, Victorian police thwarted a planned anti-mask rally dubbed “Freedom Day Celebration” in Melbourne, arresting seven people and issuing 27 fines.
Neighboring New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, recorded 10 infections on Sunday, with authorities ordering students at two state schools to self-isolate after reporting COVID-19 cases.
The remainder six states and territories reported zero new cases on Sunday.
Philippine reports biggest spike in three weeks
The Philippines on Sunday recorded 61 more coronavirus deaths, the highest daily increase in fatalities reported since July 18, taking the country’s death tally to 2,270.
A health ministry bulletin also reported 3,109 more infections, bringing the total confirmed cases to 129,913.
The Southeast Asian country leads the region in the most number of cases and is second to Indonesia in deaths.
