Pandemic kills more than 590,000 people in almost seven months
Global infections by the new coronavirus exceed 14 million, according to a count by the Reuters news agency, marking the first time that there has been an increase of 1 million cases in about 100 hours.
The first case was reported in China in early January and took three months to reach 1 million cases. Now, it only took four days to rise from 13 million, on July 13, to 14 million cases on Friday night (17).
The United States, with more than 3.6 million confirmed cases, is still experiencing huge daily jumps in its first wave of covid-19 infections.
The United States recorded a daily global record of more than 77,000 new infections on Thursday (16), while Sweden has had 77,281 cases in total since the pandemic began.
Masks
Despite the increase in occurrences, a cultural division in the country grows due to the use of masks to contain the spread of the virus, a precaution routinely adopted in many other countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his followers have resisted a full endorsement of the masks and advocate a return to normal economic activity and the reopening of schools amid rising cases.
Other hard-hit countries have “flattened the curve” and are easing isolation, while elsewhere, such as the cities of Barcelona and Melbourne, are implementing a second round of restrictions.
The total number of cases worldwide is approximately three times the number of serious influenza illnesses registered annually, according to the World Health Organization – WHO. The pandemic has killed more than 590,000 people in almost seven months.
In Brazil, more than 2 million people tested positive and more than 77 thousand people died.
