The number of novel coronavirus infections around the world passed 15 million Wednesday, with Latin America and the Caribbean, one of the hardest-hit regions, notching more than four million cases.
In the United States, home to over a quarter of global infections, President Donald Trump warned that the pandemic was likely to get worse before it gets better.
The US data makes grim reading, with more than 143,000 fatalities and regular daily death tolls of more than 1,000.
Mr Trump has been a critic of lockdown measures and has argued in favour of reopening the economy even as death tolls have climbed.
Signs are emerging in other parts of the world that the virus quickly springs back when lockdown measures are lifted.
US President Donald Trump arrives to speak to the press ahead of the renewed briefing of the Coronavirus Task Force Source: AFP
Belgium, Hong Kong and Japanese capital Tokyo had all used restrictive measures to successfully beat outbreaks earlier in the pandemic, but all are now facing an upsurge in cases.
Hong Kong set new daily records for confirmed cases on Wednesday, and Tokyo's governor urged residents to stay at home during a forthcoming holiday as cases climb.
Belgian officials said people must stick to social-distancing guidelines to halt a "snowball effect before it provokes a new avalanche".
South Africa's decision to ban the sale of alcohol and enforce a curfew continued to cause anguish, even as the country recorded a record-breaking 24-hour death toll of 572 fatalities.
"What the government has put in place has been knee-capping," restaurateur Sean Barber said during a protest in Johannesburg. "It's decimating our industry."
Brazil, the world's second hardest-hit country after the United States, has registered half of Latin America's surging caseload, with 2.2 million infections and 82,771 deaths.
The country recorded a new daily record of novel coronavirus cases Wednesday with nearly 68,000 infections.
Peru, Mexico and Chile are also on the list of the top 10 countries by total cases, with well over 300,000 each.
US records back-to-back days of more than 1,000 deaths
US deaths from the coronavirus have risen by more than 1000 for a second day in a row, including a record one-day rise in fatalities in Alabama, Nevada and Texas, according to a Reuters tally.
The United States has not seen back-to-back days with over 1000 lives lost since 5-6 June.
Weeks after cases began to surge, 23 states are now seeing fatalities also rise, according to a Reuters analysis of deaths for the past two weeks compared with the prior two weeks.
A healthcare provider administers a coronavirus test to a patient in Tampa, Florida. Source: Getty Images North America
While deaths are rising in the United States for a second week in a row, they remain well below levels seen in April, when on average 2000 people a day died from the virus.
One hard-hit Texas county is storing bodies in refrigerated trucks after COVID-19 deaths doubled in the span of a week.
Hidalgo County, at the southern tip of the state on the US border with Mexico, has seen cases rise 60 per cent in the last week, according to a Reuters tally, with deaths doubling to more than 360.
A nurse beckons to people in a car at a newly opened mega drive-thru site at El Paso, Texas. Source: Getty Images
Crematoriums in the Hidalgo County area have a wait list of two weeks, a local official said, forcing the county to use five refrigerated trucks that can hold 50 bodies each.
Over 142,000 lives have been lost to the virus in the United States over the last five months, the highest in the world.
Among the 20 countries with the largest outbreaks, the United States ranks sixth highest globally for deaths per capita, according to a Reuters analysis.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits.
If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
