According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, the number of global cases has reached 9,608,814, after a one-day gain of 214,256. It was the second day that new confirmed cases surged by well above 200,000. For weeks, the United States, the United Kingdom and most of the rest of Europe had decreasing numbers of new cases and deaths, while the figures picked up in Russia, India and Latin America. That is no longer true, particularly for counts in the United States.

Active cases worldwide are up to 4,311,173, and they are 45% of the total of global confirmed cases. The recovered case count is 4,808,236, which is up by 91,760. The positive difference between the daily increase in recovered cases and active cases continues to show improvement. For the second time, this daily spread was above 500,000, one of the few good signs as the pandemic continues.

It is notable that the acceleration of the spread of the disease worldwide is because of an explosion of new cases in America. The increase in U.S. confirmed cases has been by more than 30,000 in each of the past five days, and it jumped by over 40,000 today. Several large states are responsible for the U.S. swell, including the three largest states by population: California, Texas and Florida.

Global fatal cases have hit 489,405, up 8,327 in a day and higher than the day before. At the current rate, the number of deaths could hit 500,000 in two days. They are just above 5% of the world’s confirmed cases total, but many experts believe the death count is much too low, in part because many developing nations cannot track or accurately count numbers.

Total confirmed cases in the United States, the hardest-hit nation, have reached 2,469,187. The surge of 42,089 is the largest for a single day since the start of the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) commented that the actual U.S. confirmed case figure may be above 20 million and many of these people had no symptoms. The official U.S. confirmed cases count is 26% of the world’s total.

Active COVID-19 cases there totaled 1,577,849, and recovered cases reached 765,061, after rising by 17,883. It remains a bad sign that there are many more active cases than recovered ones. American coronavirus fatalities hit 126,277, or 2,537 higher in a day. This figure is close to the daily increase in fatalities at the peak of deaths per day in late April and early May.

In Brazil, the second hardest hit nation, confirmed cases have reached 1,233,147, up by 40,673, and they are still growing rapidly at a pace of nearly 300,000 per week. The death count rose by 1,180 to 55,054. Carefully followed forecasts from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show that COVID deaths in Brazil will move ahead of those in the United States by the end of July.

Russia has the third-highest number of confirmed cases at 55,054, but its 1,180 increase remains extremely modest. It is a fraction of the confirmed case increase in either the United States or Brazil. The nation posted a COVID-19 death increase of just 176 to 8,781. This is an astonishing small gain, given the size of the population, and it is a fraction of the increases in the two hardest-hit nations.

India, the fourth hardest hit country, also posted relatively small figures compared to Brazil. It has a confirmed case count of 491,861, a modest increase of 17,481. Deaths have reached 15,319, after rising by 405. The official Indian figures are almost certainly too low. The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi told reporters that he expected the city to have 550,000 cases by the end of July. Delhi has a population of 20 million, while India’s population is 1.353 billion. The infection rate across the nation is not uniform, which is an indication that the COVID-19 case count for the country likely is much higher than reported.

Confirmed Case Increases Set Daily Records Across Several States

Based on several reports, the daily pace of increase in confirmed cases has hit records in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wyoming. This includes two of the largest states by population, California and Florida. Together, these two states have nearly 19% of the American population.

California is the second hardest hit state after New York. Confirmed cases there climbed by 5,349 to 195,571, while New York’s confirmed case increase was only 749. Deaths in California totaled 5,733, a gain of 101 in a day. The New York death count rose by just 18.

Florida reported that confirmed cases reached 114,018, after surging by 5,004. Deaths there numbered 3,327, a gain of 46.

Texas, the second-largest state by population, posted a confirmed case count of 131,917, which is a gain of 5,996. The death count added 47 to reach 2,296. The figures were particularly troubling in Harris County, home to Houston, and the third biggest county in America based on population, after Los Angeles County and Cook County, home to Chicago. Confirmed cases in Harris County hit 25,786, up by 1,365. It had 346 deaths, after adding 11.

South American Nations Jump to Top of List of Global Confirmed Cases by Nation

Three of the top eight nations in the world based on confirmed case count are now in South America. Brazil, in second place, is on a pace to reach 1.5 million cases in a week. It is the sixth-largest nation in the world based on population, at 211,707,405.

Peru, which is seventh on the list of nations worldwide based on confirmed cases, has reached 268,602 by that measure. That is up 3,913 in a day. Peru has a total population of 32,824,358, which ranks it 42nd in the world. Its COVID-19 death count is 8,761, or 175 higher.

Chile is the eighth-ranked nation in the world based on confirmed cases of 259,064, a one-day gain of 4,648. It is the 60th largest country as measured by population, at 19,458,310. Deaths there now stand at 4,903, up by 172.

The high counts in the three countries are due largely to poor medical systems, impoverished populations, people who live in close quarters within large cities and inadequate tracing.

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