TEHRAN (Iran News) – The world is apparently grappling with the second wave of coronavirus infections as the global number of the infected surpassed 11.4 million at 1229 GMT on Sunday and deaths reached 534,192, according to worldometers.info.

Over 6.46 people have recovered since the outbreak emerged in China last December.

On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 212,326 in 24 hours, Reuters reported.

The biggest increases were from the US, Brazil, and India, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 189,077 on June 28. Deaths remained steady at about 5,000 a day.

Global coronavirus cases exceeded 11 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed more than half a million people in seven months.

The US still worst-hit state

The virus has so far infected over 2.9 million in the US – currently ranking first in the number of cases and deaths in the world, killing 132,327. Florida and Texas, two states that have emerged as the latest hot spots of the US coronavirus outbreak, both reported record daily increases in confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday, with nearly 20,000 additional infections combined.

For a sixth straight day, Texas also registered an all-time high in the number of people hospitalized with the highly contagious respiratory illness – 7,890 patients after 238 new admissions in 24 hours.

By comparison, New York state – the US epicenter of the outbreak months ago, reported just 844 hospitalizations on Saturday, far below the nearly 19,000 hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients at the peak of its coronavirus crisis.

During the first four days of July alone, a total of 14 states have posted a daily record increases in the number of individuals testing positive for COVID-19.

Russia cases top 680,000

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

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

New number five

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

The health ministry also reported 6,914 new infections and a total of 252,165 confirmed cases.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell reiterated that the actual number of infected was probably significantly higher.

“We knew from the beginning that the cases we report here do not represent the total number of people with COVID-19 in Mexico,” he told a regular news conference.

“Neither Mexico nor any other country in the world aims to make an exhaustive count.”

Citing unpublished figures from the civil registry, broadcaster Milenio said that by June 19 almost twice as many people had died from the virus as reported by Lopez Gatell.

Roughly reaching Russia

India added a record number of coronavirus cases Sunday, approaching Russia as the world’s third-most infected nation as it opens a mass treatment center in the capital to fight the pandemic.

The health ministry reported just under 25,000 cases and 613 deaths in 24 hours – the biggest daily spike since the first case was detected in late January.

The sharp rise came as Delhi started treating patients at a spiritual center converted into a sprawling isolation facility and hospital with 10,000 beds, many made of cardboard.

About the size of 20 football fields, the facility will treat mild symptomatic and asymptomatic cases.

State government officials fear the metropolis could record more than half-a-million cases by the end of the month.

Indonesia infections

Indonesia reported 82 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday in its highest daily tally, Health Ministry official, Achmad Yurianto, said, taking the toll to 3,171.

Infections rose 1,607, for a total of 63,749 cases, he added.

Philippines figures

The Philippines reported its biggest single-day jump in new coronavirus cases on Sunday, adding 2,434 confirmed infections and taking the total count to 44,254, the health ministry said.

The ministry said the rise could be attributed to increased contact among people as the country began easing lockdown measures to help reduce the pandemic’s damage to the economy.

The Philippines also recorded seven new deaths, the ministry said, bringing total fatalities to 1,297.

German cases

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

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

Tokyo toll

Tokyo also confirmed 111 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, the fourth straight day that the tally of fresh cases exceeded 100, public broadcaster NHK said.

Tokyo reported 131 new cases the previous day, prompting Governor Yuriko Koike, who won Sunday’s gubernatorial election, to urge residents to avoid non-urgent trips out of the capital and embrace working from home.

Eight new cases

China recorded eight new coronavirus cases for Saturday, up from with three a day earlier, the national health authority said on Sunday, while city officials in Beijing said nearly all the cases in a recent outbreak in the capital were mild.

Of the new cases, six were imported and two were in Beijing, which has been scrambling to quash an outbreak traced to a massive wholesale market in the city early last month.

Also on Sunday, 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.