Total infections top 25 million

NEW DELHI－Global coronavirus infections soared past 25 million on Sunday as countries around the world tightened restrictions to try to stop the rampaging pandemic.

One million additional cases have been detected globally about every four days since mid-July, according to the World Health Organization, with India on Sunday setting the record for the highest single-day rise in cases with 78,761.

The surge raised India's tally to more than 3.5 million, and came as the government announced the reopening of the subway in the capital, New Delhi. It also moved ahead with allowing limited sports and religious events from next month.

India, with 1.4 billion people, now has the fastest-growing daily coronavirus caseload of any country. It reported more than 75,000 infections for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday. It also had the highest single-day surge since Aug 4.

One of the reasons is testing: India now conducts nearly 1 million tests every day, compared with just 200,000 two months ago.

Even as eight Indian states remain among the worst-hit regions and account for nearly 73 percent of total infections, the virus is now spreading fast in the vast hinterlands, with health experts warning that September could be extremely challenging. Last week members of a small secluded tribe in the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands tested positive for the coronavirus.

Countries such as New Zealand and South Korea, which had previously brought their outbreaks largely under control, are now battling new clusters of infections.

Latin America is the region with the most infections in the world, although some countries in the region are beginning to show a slight decline in infections. Brazil crossed the threshold of 120,000 people killed by the coronavirus on Saturday.

Brazil's curve "has stabilized now, but at a very dangerous level: nearly 1,000 deaths and 40,000 cases per day", said Christovam Barcellos, a researcher at the public health institute Fiocruz. "And Brazil still isn't past the peak."

In the United States, metrics on new cases, deaths, hospitalizations and test positivity rates are all declining, but there are emerging hot spots in the Midwest.

According to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University, the US has had 5.9 million cases, more than any other country. The real number of people infected by the virus around the world is believed to be much higher, perhaps 10 times higher in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, given testing limitations and the many mild cases that have gone unreported or unrecognized.

Battling fresh clusters

On Monday masks will become mandatory on public transport and flights in New Zealand, which went more than 100 days without local transmission before the current outbreak emerged.

On Sunday tightened virus curbs came into force in South Korea, which is battling fresh clusters, including in the greater Seoul region, home to half the country's population.

Despite the grim numbers, there has been steady opposition to lockdowns and social distancing measures in many parts of the world, often because of their crushing economic cost.

In Berlin on Saturday about 18,000 people gathered to march against coronavirus restrictions, but police later stopped the rally because many of those taking part were not respecting social distancing measures. Similar protests were held in London and Zurich.

The pandemic has upended economies and societies worldwide and halted most large gatherings, from sport and music to religion and politics. The world's top sporting, cultural and music events are struggling with the challenge of hosting spectators while reducing the risk of virus transmission.

Agencies - Xinhua