Coronavirus global daily case rate passes 500,000 for first time

A sobering new statistic shows the global coronavirus crisis is only getting worse, as the world records the highest daily infection rate ever.

US President Donald Trump. Picture: ALEX EDELMAN / AFP

There were more than half a million new coronavirus infections recorded across the world in a 24-hour period this weekend.

The BBC reports that 506,512 as the latest daily figure of new COVID-19 diagnoses – the first time that more than half a million new cases have been recorded in a 24-hour period.

That staggering figure is also backed up by the John Hopkins University, which maintains global statistics on coronavirus and recorded 506,000.

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The World Health Organisation has recorded the slightly lower figure of 465,000 new cases for the same period – still a record for new cases recorded by the WHO.

The milestone comes as new modelling suggests more than half a million Americans could die from coronavirus by the end of February. The US has recorded more than 8.8 million cases of the deadly virus, with more than 230,000 deaths so far.

According to modelling by the University of Washington, that death toll could double to more than 511,000 lives could be lost by 28 February next year.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex puts on a face mask. Picture: AFP

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And as infection rates soar across Europe, the World Health Organisation has warned of an “exponential” rise in cases across the continent.

Several countries in Europe are reporting infection rates higher than during the first wave of the pandemic in March and April.

Spain’s “real number” of infections is more than three million, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said yesterday, just two days after the country officially became the first European Union country to pass a million cases.

“Too many countries are seeing an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases and that is now leading to hospitals and intensive care units running close to or above capacity – and we’re still only in October,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference this week.