A cyclist travels around Columbus Circle on June 12, 2020 in New York City. (PHOTO / AFP）

RIO DE JANEIRO / ALGIERS  / LONDON - US cases rose at the fastest pace in two weeks as the total topped 2 million. Washington state health officials warned of a substantial increase in infections in four counties south of Seattle.

Cases in the US increased by 28,312 from the same time Friday to 2.06 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The 1.4% jump was above the average daily increase of 1.1 percent for the past week, and the highest so far in June. Deaths rose 0.8 percent to 115,059.

Washington state’s cases and deaths may “soon increase substantially” in four counties in the south-central region as transmission continues to accelerate, the health department said in a report.

High school students leave Beal Secondary School in London, Ontario on March 13, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

UK

UK's British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is working with Education Minister Gavin Williamson to ensure all schools can open in September and to provide support packages to help children catch up on lost learning, his office said on Saturday.

Detailed work is underway with schools, councils and unions to make sure all children are able to return in September if it is safe to do so, a Downing Street source said.

Another 181 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Friday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 41,662, the British Department of Health and Social Care said Saturday.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

As of Saturday morning, 294,375 people have tested positive in Britaian, a daily increase of 1,425, according to the department.

As of Saturday morning, there have been 6,624,676 tests of the novel coronavirus in the country, with 188,794 tests on Friday, said the department.

Brazil 

Brazil has so far reported 850,514 COVID-19 cases with 42,720 deaths, the country's health ministry reported on Saturday.

In the last 24 hours, the country registered 892 new deaths from the virus with 21,704 new cases, according to the health ministry.

Sao Paulo, the epicenter of the virus in Brazil and the country's most populous state, has registered 172,875 cases and 10,581 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 78,836 cases and 7,592 deaths, and Ceara with 76,429 cases and 4,829 deaths.

Brazil, with the second-highest number of cases in the world after the United States, surpassed Britain to have the second-highest death toll in the world on Friday.

Algeria

The Algerian government on Saturday announced lifting lockdown in 19 provinces and easing measures in 29 provinces as of Sunday, official media reported.

"This decision came after consult with the scientific committee in charge of following up the progress of COVID-19 and the health ministry, and after the approval of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune," APS news agency quoted a statement of the Prime Ministry as saying.

Earlier on Saturday, Algerian health authorities announced 112 new COVID-19 cases and nine new fatalities over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 10,810 and the death toll to 760.

ALSO READ: Brazil surpasses UK in virus deaths, now 2nd in world

Egypt

Egypt registered 1,677 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily surge so far, raising the total number of infections to 42,980, Egyptian health ministry announced on Saturday.

Egypt has also reported a record of 62 single-day COVID-19 deaths, taking the death toll in the country to 1,484, said Khaled Megahed, the health ministry's spokesman, in a statement.

Meanwhile, the spokesman added that 421 patients have recovered and left hospitals in the past 24 hours, bringing the total recoveries to 11,529.

The spokesman reiterated that all COVID-19 cases in Egypt receive necessary medical care "in accordance with the guidelines of the World Health Organization."

Morocco

Morocco's tally of COVID-19 cases on Saturday climbed to 8,692 as 82 new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours.

The number of recovered patients has increased to 7,696 with 78 new ones, Mouad Mrabet, coordinator of the Moroccan Center for Public Health, said at a daily press briefing.

The total number of deaths from COVID-19 infection stood at 212, as one new fatality was recorded in the last 24 hours.

In addition, 5,840 people who had contact with the patients are still under medical surveillance, and 10 are in intensive care units.

Kenya

Kenya's Ministry of Health on Saturday confirmed 152 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 3,457.

Rashid Aman, Chief Administrative Secretary in Kenya's Ministry of Health, said that the latest cases are from 3,503 samples which were tested in the last 24 hours.

Aman noted that all the latest infections are all Kenyan nationals, including 116 males and 36 females.

He revealed that during the same period, 57 patients were discharged from various hospitals after recovering from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,221.

Somalia

Somali Health Ministry on Saturday reported 66 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 2,579.

Fawziya Abikar, Somali Health Minister said the majority of the cases were recorded in the self-declared region of Somaliland 46, Puntland 12 and Banadir five, Southwest has two cases while Jubaland has one case.

The minister said 27 patients were discharged from health facilities in the last 48 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 559.

The minister said two patients succumbed to respiratory disease as the total number of fatalities remains at 87.

Ethiopia

Ethiopia's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 3,166 after 268 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed on Saturday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health said.

This is so far the highest daily increase in the Horn of Africa country.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Health, in a statement issued on Saturday, revealed that from the total of 5,644 medical tests that were conducted within the last 24-hours period, some 268 of them have been tested positive for COVID-19, eventually bringing the total number of cases in the country to 3,166 as of the stated period.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Health further indicated that while 267 of the latest confirmed cases are Ethiopian nationals, one other confirmed case of COVID-19 is a foreign national.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Health also said that 495 patients who were tested positive for COVID-19 have so far recovered from the virus, in which 44 of the patients recovered during the past 24-hours period.

Mozambique

Mozambican health authorities announced Saturday that the number of people infected by COVID-19 rose from 509 to 553, as 44 more Mozambican individuals were diagnosed in the last 24 hours in the country.

According to Health Ministry's daily briefing on COVID-19, the country currently has 151 patients fully recovered from the disease.

All the newly confirmed cases are in home isolation. The country continues with three individuals hospitalized due to COVID-19, all in Nampula Province.

In the last 24 hours, 1,142 were tested in public and private sectors, of which 1,098 were negative.

At the moment, 2,167 people are still observing the home quarantine in the country.

Portugal

The Portuguese government announced on Saturday that commercial flights to and from most countries outside the European Union (EU) are not to resume until the end of this month as a measure to control the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement published in the Official Gazette of Portugal.

The new rules allow air traffic from countries associated with the Schengen area, such as Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, as well as Portuguese-speaking countries and the United Kingdom, the United States, Venezuela, Canada and South Africa.

The restrictions also do not apply to nationals of the EU countries and states associated with the Schengen area, or those who have legal residence in one of these countries and those who travel for study reasons.

Portugal registers seven more deaths related to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the toll to 1,512, while another 283 cases of infections have taken the tally to 36,463.

Italy

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 78 on Saturday, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the tally of new cases increased by 346.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb 21 now stands at 34,301, the agency said, the fourth highest in the world after those of the United States, Britain and Brazil.

The death count was muddied by the fact that the central region of Lazio, around the capital city of Rome, said that only two of the 25 deaths declared on Saturday had happened in the last 24 hours, bringing the daily deaths down to 55.

The number of confirmed cases amounts to 236,651, the seventh highest global tally behind those of the United States, Russia, Brazil, Spain, Britain and India.

The northern region of Lombardy, where the outbreak was first identified, remains by far the worst affected of Italy’s 20 regions, accounting for 210 of the 346 new cases reported on Saturday.

People registered as currently carrying the illness fell to 27,485 from 28,997 the day before.

READ MORE: UK retreats on plan for strict customs checks after Brexit

France

France registered 24 new deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the country's toll to 29,398, according to fresh figures released by the National Public Health Agency.

The latest single-day deaths were fewer than the 28 fatalities recorded a day before. Saturday also saw 526 new cases of infection, down from Friday's 726, taking the tally to 156,813.

Meanwhile, hospital admissions continued to decline. Some 10,909 people remain hospitalized for coronavirus infection, compared with 11,124 recorded on Friday. Patients who needed to be put on ventilator dropped by 8 to 871.

In a further move to return to normalcy, France will lift on June 15 all traffic restrictions at its European internal borders following a favorable development of the health situation in the country and Europe, said Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.

Mexico

Mexico's health ministry reported 3,494 new confirmed coronavirus infections along with 424 additional fatalities on Saturday, bringing the total in the country to 142,690 cases and 16,872 deaths.

The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the official count.

Chile

Chile’s Health Minister Jaime Manalich, who backed limited steps over broader action, resigned Saturday as the daily death toll hit a record and new cases soared. Enrique Paris, former head of the Medical College, was named as his successor.

Manalich had promoted dynamic lockdowns that restricted movement in specific neighborhoods rather than entire cities. The policy ultimately failed as new cases spiraled in May, forcing all of Santiago into a lockdown.

Chile now has more cases per capita than any other country after Qatar and Bahrain. Chile reported a record 231 new deaths Saturday, and 6,509 new cases. That brought total cases to 167,355, more than France, and fatalities to 3,101.

Russia 

Russia reported 8,835 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the number of

infections nationwide to 528,964.

The authorities said 119 people had died from the virus in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 6,948.

Spain

Spain will open its borders to countries in the European Union's Schengen area on June 21, except for Portugal where the border will open on July 1 as previously announced, Spanish media including El Pais newspaper and Ser radio station reported.

The Spanish government had previously said it would allow foreign tourists to enter Spain on July 1 without self-quarantining, apart from the Balearic Islands which could start receiving tourists on Monday as part of a test program.