Global confirmed coronavirus cases surged past 25 million on Sunday, as India marked a worldwide record for daily new cases in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around the world, there have been more than 848,000 deaths - hundreds of thousands more than the annual influenza death toll.
The rate of new daily cases has slowed to around 1.2 percent over August so far. That compared with 1.7 percent in July, 1.8 percent in June, 2.1 percent in May, 4.6 percent in April and 7.7 percent in March. Health experts stress that official data almost certainly underreports both infections and deaths, particularly in countries with limited testing capacity.
Here are the latest developments from around the world overnight.
Asia-Pacific
Indonesia
A more infectious mutation of the new coronavirus has been found in Indonesia, the Jakarta-based Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology said on Sunday, as the Southeast Asian country's caseload surges.
India
India on Sunday reported the biggest single-day jump in coronavirus infections of any nation in the COVID-19 pandemic, as the epicentre shifts to the south Asian giant.
India's 78,761 cases exceeded the 77,299 recorded in the United States on July 16, a Reuters tally of official data showed.
The world's second-most populous nation is, with 3.54 million cases, the third-hardest hit by the pandemic, following the United States and Brazil, but its daily tallies have exceeded those of the other two countries for almost two weeks.
The COVID-19 death toll in India jumped by 948 to 63,498, the federal health ministry data showed.
Australia
New coronavirus cases in Australia's state of Victoria returned to the triple digits on Sunday. Southeastern Victoria reported 114 new cases, a day after the daily tally fell to 94, its lowest in nearly two months. Its capital, Melbourne, is four weeks into a six-week hard lockdown that authorities have said may ease only gradually.
"At 100, 94, at 114, whatever the number, we simply could not open up," state premier Daniel Andrews told a televised briefing.
China
Mainland China reported nine new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Saturday, all them imported, the National Health Commission said on Sunday, meaning there were no locally transmitted infections for a record 14th straight day.
Middle East and Africa
Turkey
Authorities in Istanbul announced curbs on weddings and other ceremonies in Turkey's largest city on Saturday as the number of daily coronavirus cases and deaths hit their highest level nationwide in more than two months.
From Monday indoor weddings, engagement parties and circumcision ceremonies will be banned, Istanbul's governor's office said. Children and people aged over 60 will be barred from outdoor ceremonies which still go ahead, it said.
Europe
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom recorded 1715 daily confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to government data on Sunday, the highest level since June 4. One person had died within 28 days of testing positive for the disease, it said.
British universities should scrap plans to reopen next month to prevent travelling students from fuelling the country's coronavirus pandemic, a union said, calling for courses to be taught online.
Russia
Russia reported 4980 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, pushing its confirmed national tally up to 990,326.
Authorities said 68 people had died of COVID-19 over the last 24 hours, raising the official death toll to 17,093.
Germany
Leading politicians on Sunday condemned protesters who stormed the steps of Germany's Reichstag parliament building, some of them holding far-right flags, during mass marches against coronavirus curbs a day earlier.
Police in the nation's capital were able to prevent demonstrators from entering the building, but the day saw hundreds of arrests, pockets of violence with injured police, and the forced break-up of one mass protest.
Americas
United States
US cases of the novel coronavirus were approaching 6 million on Sunday as many Midwest states reported increasing infections, according to a Reuters tally.
Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota have recently reported record one-day increases in new cases while Montana and Idaho are seeing record numbers of currently hospitalised COVID-19 patients.
Mexico
Mexico's health ministry on Saturday reported 5974 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infections and 673 additional fatalities, bringing the total to 591,712 cases and 63,819 deaths.
Brazil
Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago 354km off Brazil's northeastern coast famous for abundant sea life, pristine beaches and dramatic mountainsides rising above the coast, is trying a novel method for fighting the coronavirus.
Only tourists who have already had COVID-19 and recovered will be allowed onto the island chain, according to statements released by local and state governments over the past week. The new rules go into effect September 1. For now, tourists are not allowed on the islands.
There have been reported cases of people having recovered from COVID-19 getting infected again, so it's not presently known if catching the disease offers any immunity to it.
Brazil is among the nations hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with over 120,000 known deaths and 3.8 million confirmed cases as of Saturday evening. However, new cases and deaths have begun to stabilise in recent weeks.
Reuters / Newshub.
