More than 120,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in the US in the past 24 hours, smashing a daily record set the day before, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The country reported 123,085 new infections between 8:30 pm Wednesday and 8:30 pm Thursday (0130 GMT), and 1,226 more deaths, the tally by the Baltimore-based school showed.
On Wednesday, 99,660 new cases of the virus were reported. Thursday’s tally shatters that record by 23,425 cases.
While deaths remain lower than their worst levels in the spring, Thursday was also the third day in a row that fatalities were above 1,000.
The last time people were dying at that rate of Covid-19 in the US was early September.
Ukraine has registered a record 201 new Covid-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours, the health minister said, up from a high of 199 reported on November 4.
Maksym Stepanov also said 9,721 new Covid-19 cases had been registered.
Total infections stood at 440,188 with 8,125 deaths by Friday, he said.
Czech Republic reports 13,231 new cases, deaths rise by 197
The Czech Republic has reported 13,231new coronavirus cases for November 5, bringing the total tally in the country since the pandemic started to 391,945, HealthMinistry data showed.
The ministry also recorded 197 new deaths, including 97 on Thursday along with revisions from previous days. The country is showing the most deaths per capita in Europe in the past two weeks and one of the continent’s highest infection rates.
In total, 4,330 people have died in relation to Covid-19 in the country of 10.7 million.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has increased by 21,506 to 619,089, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.
The reported death toll rose by 166 to 11,096, the tally showed.
Hungary to reschedule some operations to help hospitals as pandemic spreads
Hungary will try to avoid closing schools as long as possible but some medical operations will have to be rescheduled as hospital beds are filling up with coronavirus patients, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio.
Orban said that based on current predictions, Hungary will need 2,240 intensive beds with ventilators for patients by November 21, and 4,480 beds by December 10, which he said would be around the limit of current hospital capacities.
Mexico’s health ministry reported on Thursday 5,567 additional coronavirus cases and 544 more deaths, bringing the official number of cases to 949,197 and the death toll to 93,772.
Health officials have said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
British police arrest 104 Londoners for breach of lockdown restrictions
British police said they had arrested 104 Londoners on Thursday for breach of coronavirus regulations.
“More than 100 of these people have now been arrested and will have to face the consequences of their actions,” the Metropolitan Police said. “We expect the number of arrests to increase as our policing operation continues into the night.”
Brazil’s cases pass 5.6 million, death toll at 161,736 – ministry
Brazil reported 22,294 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 630 deaths from Covid-19, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The South American country has now registered 5,612,319 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 161,736, according to ministry data, in the world’s most fatal outbreak outside the United States.
Seventeen out of 50 US states reported record one-day increases in cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, a day after the country set a record with nearly 105,000 new infections reported on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally.
The outbreak is spreading in every region but is hitting the Midwest the hardest, based on new cases per capita. Previously, the most states that reported records for new cases in a single day was 16 on October 30, according to Reuters data.
Illinois reported nearly 10,000 new cases on Thursday and along with Texas is leading the United States in the most cases reported in the last seven days.
Other Midwestern states with record increases in cases on Thursday were Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Arkansas, Maine, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah and West Virginia also set records for rises in new infections.
Some cities and states have announced new measures such as curfews or reduced gathering sizes to combat the spread of the virus, but the United States has taken no action at the federal level.
In addition to rising cases, US hospitalisations of Covid-19 patients rose to over 52,500 on Thursday, up for an 11th consecutive day and getting closer to the record of 58,370 set in July.
North Dakota reported only eight free intensive care unit beds in the entire state on Thursday.
Britain reported 24,141 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday and 378 deaths from the virus, slightly down on figures from the day before, government data showed.
The cumulative toll for those who died within 28 days of a first positive Covid-19 test in the United Kingdom now stands at 48,120 while the number of people who have tested positive is 1,123,197 according to the data.