Moments ago, Reuters reported that it counted more than 40 million coronavirus cases in the world on Monday, as winter in the northern hemisphere sparked a resurgence in the spread of the disease.
Reuters tally is based on official reporting by inpidual countries on pandemic casualties. According to experts, the true numbers of both cases and fatalities are likely much higher, given shortage in testing and potential under-reporting by some countries.
"The latest data shows the pace of the pandemic continues to pick up. It took just 32 days to go from 30 million global cases to 40 million, compared with the 38 days it took to get from 20 to 30 million, the 44 days between 10 and 20 million, and the three months it took to reach 10 million cases from when the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China, in early January," Reuters said.
A jump in daily increases in new infections happened day ago, with global coronavirus cases rising above 400,000 for the first time.
There were an average of around 347,000 cases each day over the past week, compared with 292,000 in the first week of October.
The United States, India, and Brazil remain the hardest-hit countries in the world. COVID-19 cases in North, Central, and South America represent about 47.27% or nearly half of global cases.
Around 247 cases are seen per 10,000 people in the United States. For India and Brazil, those numbers stand at 55 cases and 248 cases per 10,000 people respectively.
New cases are growing at over 150,000 a day in Europe, as many countries including Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic have reported record daily increases in the number of coronavirus infections.
Europe currently accounts for over 17% of the global cases and nearly 22% of the deaths related to the virus worldwide.
Parts of the UK were put into lockdown as Prime Minister Boris Johnson bid to contain a second wave of infections through local measures.
France imposed curfews while other European nations are closing schools, canceling surgeries, and enlisting student medics.
India's cumulative tally of coronavirus infections stood at 7.43 million on Saturday, with the number of active infections slipping below 800,000 for the first time in 1.5 months.
Iran, the Middle Eastern country hardest-hit by the pandemic, extended restrictions and closures in the capital Tehran into a third week on Saturday as its death toll rose above 30,000.
Since the pandemic started, over 1.1 million people have died due to COVID-19, with the global fatality rate hovering around 2.8% of the total cases.
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