- As many countries gauge how best to reopen society safely, the
coronavirus continues infecting record numbers of people around the globe. - The World Health Organization said it logged a record number of daily, new coronavirus cases on Wednesday: 106,000 worldwide.
- Case numbers are highest right now in the US, Russia, and Brazil.
As offices, gyms, schools, and shopping centers continue reopening in countries around the globe, the World Health Organization is warning that "we still have a long way to go" in order to stop the virus cold, a gentle reminder to the world that the coronavirus' global spread is still accelerating in many spots.
"In the last 24 hours, there have been 106,000 cases reported to WHO, the most in a single day since the outbreak began," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters during a teleconference from Geneva on Wednesday.
"Almost two-thirds of these cases were reported in just four countries," he added.
Those countries are some of the very largest around the planet, including the US, Russia, and Brazil. (Both Saudi Arabia and India have also each logged thousands of infections in recent days, rounding out the top five spots.)
The US leads the world in recorded coronavirus infections
The US tallies by far the largest share of the world's new coronavirus infections, even as many US states continue relaxing their stay at home orders, and moving forward with reopening plans.
On Tuesday, according to WHO's numbers, there were more than 45,250 new infections recorded in the US. In part, the number is an indication that the country has now tested more people than any other nation on Earth.
But the US still lags well behind many others when it comes to testing capabilities, per capita. Italy, Canada, and the UK have each tested many more of their people for the virus, percentage-wise.
Sweden, which has been used by some in the US as a darling example of how staying open during the pandemic is possible, is also now struggling with the highest per capita death rate in Europe. One preschool teacher there told Insider "I always wonder how many people will die because of me," as she continues holding classes.
In South Korea, where fitness classes are in session and offices are open, coronavirus infections are easily spreading, too: 44% of workers on one floor of a South Korean call center caught the virus in March, and a new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report suggests one dance fitness workshop in South Korea led to 112 infections at 12 different facilities, as instructors and students moved around and mingled.
It's a reminder that when and where people gather, infection rates will likely rise.
"The virus needs people to transmit between," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead for
Tedros said the WHO is becoming "very concerned" about the rising numbers of cases in low- and middle-income countries, too.
"It's still early for India, as it is for many countries in south Asia," the WHO's Executive Director of Health Emergencies, Mike Ryan, said.
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