More than 64 million (64,270,911) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,488,732 have died with total recoveries reaching 44,527,576, according to a global tally published by the worldometer on Wednesday. Infections have been reported in more than 218 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. Coronavirus cases have surged over the past few months in several regions of the world and large numbers of new infections are being reported daily. The US has recorded more than 13.5 million cases and nearly 270,000 deaths from coronavirus, the highest figures in the world. Daily cases have been at record levels since early November and there are now more than 90,000 people in hospital, more than in either of the two previous peaks of the pandemic. One US disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said the country could face another surge of cases as Americans return home after the Thanksgiving holiday. The outbreak has had a devastating impact on the US economy, although there are now some signs it is recovering. Nearly eight million Americans, many of them children and minorities, have fallen into poverty since May, according to researchers. France has recorded more than two million cases; Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK have all recorded more than one million cases. But all their numbers have either stabilized or started to fall in recent days. In Berlin, Germany recorded on Wednesday 487 deaths and 17,270 new COVID-19 infections in a span of 24 hours. This increased the death toll to 17,123 and overall infections to 1,084,743 cases, according to the Robert Koch Institute. In Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Wednesday increased to 579,212 with 1,867 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They said 141 more deaths from COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 16,786. India's daily coronavirus cases continued to stay below the 50,000 mark for the 25th straight day, with 36,604 new infections reported, data from the health ministry showed on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The country now has 9.5 million total infections, but cases have been dipping since a peak in September, in spite of a busy festival season last month. Daily cases rose by less than 40,000 for the third straight day on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally. Deaths rose by 501, the Health Ministry said, with the total now at 138,122. In Tokyo, Japan reported 2,389 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours on Wednesday, raising the nation's total number to 152,328, the Health Ministry and local authorities said. The country's cumulative death toll rose by 42 to 2,304. Tokyo added 500 new infections, reaching 500 for the first time in four days, which brought the total cases in the Japanese capital to 41,811. In response to a surge in the number of new infections, the Tokyo metropolitan government last month raised the coronavirus alert by one notch to the highest level of the four-tier system, which means the infections appear to be spreading. In Latin America, Brazil has more than six million confirmed cases and the world's second highest death toll. There are concerns the country is now facing a second wave of infections. Argentina, Colombia and Mexico have also recorded more than one million cases. Peru is also approaching that milestone, although daily cases are falling. Africa has recorded more than two million cases, although the true extent of the pandemic there is not known as testing rates are low. South Africa, with about 800,000 cases and more than 21,000 deaths, is still the worst affected country on the continent. Morocco, Egypt and Ethiopia are the only other African countries to officially record more than 100,000 cases. — Agencies
