The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases.

The WHO said that 1,06,662 virus cases reported to the UN agency on Tuesday - the most in a single day since the outbreak erupted in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

As the global death toll topped 3,25,000 and the number of cases crossed five million, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “very concerned” about the situation in low- and middle-income nations.

More than 93,400 deaths have occurred in the United States, the hardest-hit country, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The latest million took 12 days, compared to 11 days that it took for the number to go from three to four million infections. Several hard-hit countries such as Italy and Spain have crossed their peaks and are reopening slowly, but officials have cautioned against a second wave.

The number of infections is now equivalent to the population of New Zealand.

Data suggests that globally, the deadliest stage of the current phase may have passed. On Wednesday, the fatality rate was 14.23 per cent and the recovery rate 85.77 per cent. Such proportions were last seen before March 24.

Brazil, Russia and India are emerging as the new hotspots of the disease. The US, where lockdown protocols have been less strict than most nations, added 20,289 cases on Tuesday to remain on top of the list of countries recording new cases.

In less than five months since the disease was first reported - local media in China’s Wuhan wrote about a mystery respiratory illness on December 31 - much of the world has now come to terms with a new reality in which social distancing is compulsory, masks are increasingly mandatory and much of leisure activities - travelling, dining out and events such as concerts and sport - may be too dangerous till researchers find a vaccine.

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