No letup in pandemic pace

WASHINGTON－The United States neared 6 million coronavirus cases on Sunday, nearly a quarter of the planet's total, as nations around the world battle to contain the raging pandemic.

Global coronavirus infections soared past 25 million, as countries tightened restrictions to halt the health crisis that has upended life for most of humanity.

A million additional cases have been detected globally roughly every four days since mid-July, according to a tally by Agence France-Presse, with India on Sunday setting the record for the highest single-day rise in cases with 78,761.

The United States had recorded 5.99 million cases of infection on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University's tracker. Its death toll is just over 183,000.

The US hit 5 million cases three weeks ago, just 17 days after reaching 4 million, the tracker said of the trend in the worst-hit country.

As US President Donald Trump faces enormous pressure to curb the contagion, the head of the US Food and Drug Administration, Stephen Hahn, raised the possibility that a still-elusive vaccine might be given emergency approval before the end of trials designed to ensure its safety and effectiveness.

The virus has proved a tenacious foe even in nations such as New Zealand and South Korea, which had previously brought their outbreaks largely under control but are now battling new clusters of infections.

Nearly 855,000 people have died of COVID-19 globally, and with no vaccine or effective treatment available yet, governments have been forced to resort to some form of social distancing and lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus.

Masks have become mandatory from Monday on public transport and flights in New Zealand, which went more than 100 days without local transmission before the current cluster emerged.

And tightened virus curbs kicked off on Sunday in South Korea, which is also battling fresh clusters－including in the greater Seoul region, home to half the country's population.

In India, Asia's worst-hit nation, officials registered 78,512 new coronavirus cases on Monday, maintaining an upward surge. The health ministry also reported 948 deaths for that period, taking the total fatalities to 64,469. The surge has raised the country's total number of cases since the pandemic began to more than 3.6 million.

The huge numbers have got authorities worried, especially with people in rural areas largely abandoning rules aimed at stopping the spread, officials say.

Kumar Sanjay Krishna, the chief secretary of Assam, one of the worst-hit states, attributed the increasing cases to more testing, the opening of the economy and complacency.

"People are not following precautionary steps and are violating the COVID protocols," he said on Twitter. "From Monday onward, there shall be visible strict action taken against those who violate the norms of social distancing or are found not wearing a face mask."

In the Middle East, the number of COVID-19 infections exceeded 2 million as of Sunday. With the pandemic's impact varying across the region, countries have taken differing measures to fight the virus.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the region, reported 1,754 new cases on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to 373,570, including 21,462 deaths.

National plan

On March 5, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced the launch of a national plan to combat the outbreak in the country. Iran had earlier eased restrictions under economic pressure, leading to a resurgence in cases. A single-day record increase of 3,574 new cases was seen on June 4.

Egypt on Sunday registered 230 new cases, taking the total infections in the country to 98,727, the health ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, 23 patients died in the past 24 hours from the novel coronavirus, taking the death toll to 5,399, according to the statement.

Egypt has been easing restrictions over the past two months as it seeks a balance between health imperatives and opening up the economy.

In Iraq, the health ministry reported 3,731 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising the total number to 231,177, including 6,959 deaths.

Iraq has been taking a series of measures to contain the pandemic since February when the first COVID-19 case emerged in the country. On Aug 18, it reported 4,576 new COVID-19, the country's highest number for a single day. That came after authorities began easing a curfew that had been in place for three days a week.

Xinhua - Agencies