Coronavirus live news: India sees record daily case rise as global deaths near 750,000 | World news

Ukraine recorded a record daily jump of 1,592 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the national council of security and defence said on Thursday.

The number of infections has increased sharply in Ukraine in the past two months as authorities have eased some restrictions, allowing cafes, churches and public transport to reopen.

Health minister Maksym Stepanov urged people to obey broader restrictions that remain in place. “I will insist on strict adherence to all the rules. The situation is very tense,” Stepanov told a televised briefing.

The total number of cases rose to 86,140, including 1,992 deaths and 46,216 recoveries, as of Aug. 13.

Australia posted its lowest one-day rise in new Covid-19 cases in more than three weeks on Thursday, stoking hopes that a second wave of new infections gripping Victoria state is finally being brought under control.

Australia, once heralded as a global leader in combating the virus, has struggled to contain an outbreak in the country’s second most populous state, which has seen triple digit daily new cases for weeks.
But Australian states and territories on Thursday reported just 292 new infections in the past 24 hours, down from 4xx the previous day and the lowest since July 20.
“We now believe, cautiously, that we have early signs of the flattening of the curve,” Australia’s minister for health Greg Hunt said in a televised media conference.

The bulk of the new infections again came in Victoria, which detected 278 new infections in the past 24 hours, down from 410 a day earlier.

That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. Thanks for following along.

My colleague Sarah Marsh will take you through the next few hours.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said Auckland’s Covid-19 outbreak will get worse before it gets better, and warned of extended lockdowns after the country reported the first new cases in 102 days without community transmission.

Ardern stressed New Zealand’s approach of going hard early remained their best chance of slowing the spread and urged caution over growing misinformation around coronavirus:

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

• Global deaths near 750,000. There are 749,358 known coronavirus deaths globally, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, as the world nears the sombre milestone of 750,000 dead in nearly eight months since the first coronavirus cases were reported.Two days ago, cases passed the staggering total of 20m. Already, they stand at 20,620,847.
• India reported another record daily rise in novel coronavirus infections on Thursday, while the death toll from Covid-19 surpassed 47,000. Infections grew by 66,999 on Thursday from a day earlier to reach a total of nearly 2.4 million to date, India’s health ministry said. The country, with the world’s biggest case load behind the United States and Brazil, has now reported a jump of 50,000 cases or more each day for 15 straight days.
• France sees most new daily virus cases since May. More than 2,500 new coronavirus cases were registered in France in 24 hours in the sharpest increase since May, government data showed on Wednesday, as officials said indicators were “clearly worsening”. Of 600,000 tests over the past week, more than 11,600 were positive, the health ministry’s DGS public health division said.
• Jordan will close its border with Syria for a week starting Thursday, after staff at their only open land crossing tested positive for coronavirus, state media said. Jordan has seen a drop in virus cases, with new infections recorded mainly among travellers arriving from abroad, but it registered 25 cases of the Covid-19 illness in the past two days, mostly at the Jaber crossing with its war-torn northern neighbour.
• The Australian state of Victoria has recorded 278 new coronavirus cases overnight, consistent with a recent downward trend that is bringing cases to numbers closer to those seen in mid-July, after increases to the 600s in early August.Eight people have died overnight.
• Venezuela’s communications minister and close adviser to President Nicolás Maduro said Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, as the daily cases in the nation steadily rise. Jorge Rodríguez becomes the latest of several high-ranking officials in Maduro’s government to become infected in the pandemic, following the July announcement by Venezuela’s socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello, who says he is recovering.
• Germany on Wednesday added Bucharest and several other areas of Romania to a list of places considered a high risk for coronavirus infections, forcing a German minister to cancel a work trip to the Romanian capital.
• Peru extended its lockdowns following surge in coronavirus cases. The Peruvian president Martín Vizcarra has banned family gatherings and extended lockdowns to five more regions of the country amid a fresh surge in cases of coronavirus.Fifteen of Peru’s 25 regions were already covered by rolling lockdowns.
• Italy has ordered travellers arriving from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain to be tested for Covid-19 and added Colombia to a list of countries under a complete travel ban amid growing concern over new infections. With the annual summer holiday reaching its peak, health services are bracing for a return of travellers from destinations where social distancing, face masks and other protective measures appear to have been widely ignored.
• France reported 2,524 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, a new post-lockdown daily record. Despite the rise in infections, the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 continued to fall and was down by 121 to 4,891, the first time it fell below 5,000 since 19 March.
• Turkey is to delay the reopening of schools by almost a month. Students will return to classrooms in Turkey in late September, nearly a month after the start of the new academic year, the government announced, as daily coronavirus cases remain above 1,000. It will be a gradual transition, starting with online learning before transitioning to in-person education.
• Chile will lift one of the world’s longest lockdowns on Monday. The capital Santiago’s central business district and adjoining Central Station will move to a “transitional” stage under a “Step by Step” reopening. The mayor said citizens should remain indoors whenever possible, wear masks in public and wash their hands. People may leave their homes on weekdays without the previously required police permissions, and meet in small groups, while businesses can gradually reopen.

There are 749,358 known coronavirus deaths globally, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, as the world nears the sombre milestone of 750,000 dead in nearly eight months since the first coronavirus cases were reported.

Two days ago, cases passed the staggering total of 20m. Already, they stand at 20,620,847.

India reported another record daily rise in novel coronavirus infections on Thursday, while the death toll from Covid-19 surpassed 47,000, Reuters reports, citing the Health Ministry.

Infections grew by 66,999 on Thursday from a day earlier to reach a total of nearly 2.4 million to date, India’s health ministry said.

The country, with the world’s biggest case load behind the United States and Brazil, has now reported a jump of 50,000 cases or more each day for 15 straight days.