A security guard checks the temperature of a woman at the entrance of a restaurant on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Florida on June 24, 2020. (CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)

GENEVA / RIO DE JANEIRO / SANTIAGO / CAIRO / PARIS / BERLIN / TRIPOLI / MEXICO CITY / WELLINGTON / THE HAGUE / LONDON / LISBON / MOSCOW / DAKAR / HARARE - The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Wednesday ordered travelers from eight US states to quarantine for 14 days on arrival and Disney said it would delay reopening its amusement parks as the novel coronavirus showed alarming spikes in the South and West.

New infections with COVID-19 in Germany remained above the previous weeks' average and increased by 587 within one day to 191,449, the Robert Koch Institute announced

The Walt Disney Co said in a statement that it would delay a planned July 17 reopening of its theme parks and resort hotels as it waits for guidelines from the state of California.

The 14-day quarantine applies to visitors from mostly southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Utah, as well as tri-state residents returning from those areas.   

While the United States appeared to have tamped down the outbreak in May and states lifted sweeping stay-at-home orders, testing suggests the virus has moved into rural areas and other places that were initially not hit as hard.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday reported 2,336,615 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 34,313 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 784 to 121,117.

The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on June 23 versus its previous report a day earlier.

A newly revised model released on Wednesday forecast that the US death toll would reach nearly 180,000 by Oct 1, down 22,000 from the last prediction, according to University of Washington researchers.

The world faces a shortage of oxygen concentrators as the number of worldwide cases of coronavirus infection nears the 10 million mark, the World Health Organization head said on Wednesday.

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"Many countries are now experiencing difficulties obtaining oxygen concentrators," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference. "Demand is currently outstripping supply."

The new coronavirus has hit 9.3 million people and killed more than 480,000 so far and is rising by about 1 million cases per week. This has pushed oxygen demand to 88,000 large cylinders per day, or 620,000 cubic metres of oxygen, Tedros said.

The sudden rise has created a dearth of oxygen concentrators needed to support breathing of COVID-19 patients suffering from respiratory distress.

Brazil

Brazil recorded 42,725 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours as well as 1,185 new deaths resulting from the disease, the country’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

Brazil has registered nearly 1.2 million cases since the pandemic began, while cumulative deaths total 53,830, according to the ministry.

Residents return home after receiving kits equipped with cleaning products and protective face masks for children, provided by a non-governmental organization as a measure to help control the spread of the new coronavirus, in the Paraisopolis slum of Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 24, 2020. (ANDRE PENNER / AP)

Chile

Chile has reported a total of 254,416 COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, with 4,731 deaths, according to the country's health ministry.

In the past 24 hours, 3,649 new cases were detected and 226 patients have died, the ministry said.

As of Wednesday, more than 1,000,000 tests for COVID-19 have been conducted across the country, with 12,575 tests done in the past 24 hours, the ministry said.

Lockdown measures have been expanded to new communities in the capital Santiago, said Health Minister Enrique Paris, while restrictions have been eased in Santiago and Concepcion provinces starting this weekend.

"It's not time to begin celebrating," he said, but it was "an encouraging" sign. 

Egypt 

Egypt reported on Wednesday 1,420 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total cases registered in the country since mid-February to 59,561, said Egyptian Health Ministry.

On the same day, 85 patients died from the novel coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 2,450, Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.

As many as 400 patients were completely cured and discharged from hospitals in the past 24 hours, increasing the total recoveries in the country to 15,935, according to the statement.

France 

France’s new coronavirus cases fell below the 100 threshold for the first time since March 4 on Wednesday and the number of additional deaths linked to the disease was also sharply down.

According to health ministry figures, there were only 81 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, to 161,348, versus 517 on Tuesday and a daily average of 453 seen over the last week.

The number of people who died from coronavirus infection in France rose by 11, to 29,731, compared to 57 a day before, when the weekly data for nursing homes were included, and an weekly average of 18.

France’s death toll is the fifth-highest in the world.

Germany

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 630 to 192,079, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.

The reported death toll rose by 13 to 8,927, the tally showed.

Local COVID-19 outbreaks -- such as at Germany's largest meat processing company Toennies in the district of Guetersloh -- were causing nationwide figures to rise, according to the RKI.

More than 1,500 employees of Toennies had been infected with COVID-19, according to city officials. The number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the district within the past seven days had risen to more than 270.

The German government approved a 500-million-euro (US$564-million) aid package on Wednesday to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that offer traineeship positions threatened by the coronavirus pandemic.

In order to "cushion the impact of the pandemic on the apprenticeship market," the funding would be available for German companies with up to 249 employees that provide vocational training recognized by federal and state law.

German SMEs that were particularly affected by the pandemic would receive a premium of 2,000 euros for each training contract concluded for the training year 2020/2021 if the level of trainee positions was maintained, according to the government.

Those companies that even increased the number of training places would receive 3,000 euros for each additional training contract.

Medical staff take COVID-19 tests of Toennies employees and their families who are quarantined behind fences in Verl, Germany, June 23, 2020.(MARTIN MEISSNER / AP)

Libya

Libya's National Center for Disease Control on Thursday confirmed 31 new COVID-19 cases, taking the caseload in the country to 670.

In a statement earlier Thursday, the center said it had received a total of 1,005 suspected samples, 974 of whom tested negative and 31 positive.

The center said that 138 patients have recovered from the disease, while 18 have died.

Mexico

Mexico’s health ministry on Wednesday reported 947 new deaths from the coronavirus and 5,437 new cases.

The figures bring Mexico’s totals to 196,847 cases and 24,324 deaths.

Netherlands

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced Wednesday that the country's anti-coronavirus measures will be further relaxed but warned the public to remain vigilant.

Gyms, saunas, and casinos are allowed to reopen from July 1, and there is no longer a limit to the number of visitors to cinemas and theaters. Public transport will also be further opened up for unnecessary travel.

Secondary schools can be fully opened again after the summer holidays. The government believes that the 1.5-meter distance rule will no longer be necessary for students, but teachers and other teaching staff must still adhere to it.

The coronavirus death toll in the Netherlands rose by two on Wednesday to 6,097, while the total number of cases grew by 83 to 49,804, according to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

Wales 

About 330 workers at three food processing plants in Wales have tested positive for COVID-19, the health minister of Wales said Wednesday.

Vaughan Gething, the Welsh minister for health and social services, warned that there is likely to be an increase in coronavirus cases as a result of the outbreaks at the three food plants, but he said there was no threat to food.

The minister said the outbreaks and local hotspots in other countries show that the meat and food processing sector is particularly susceptible to COVID-19.

Portugal

The Directorate-General of Health (DGS) of Portugal on Wednesday registered 367 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 40,104. The number of fatalities has increased by three to 1,543 since the beginning of the pandemic.

According to the DGS's epidemiological bulletin, 26,083 Portuguese citizens have recovered from the disease, at least 254 of them during the past 24 hours.

A total of 429 people are hospitalized, 12 less than on Tuesday, and 73 of them are still in intensive care, one less than a day earlier.

The regions of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley in the south have the highest number of COVID-19 cases (17,527), while the north has 17,339.

READ MORE: Restaurants & hotels to reopen as UK eases social distancing

Russia

Russia on Thursday confirmed 7,113 new cases of the novel coronavirus, pushing its tally to 613,994.

Officials said 92 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 8,605.

Senegal

Senegalese President Macky Sall is quarantining for two weeks after coming into contact with someone who has since tested positive for the coronavirus, state television said on Thursday.

The measure is precautionary as an initial COVID-19 test of Sall has come back negative, it said.

Zimbabwe 

Zimbabwe on Wednesday reported five new COVID-19 cases, taking the nationwide tally to 530, while the number of recoveries nearly doubled, according to the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

Fifty-nine more people have recovered from COVID-19, taking the number of recoveries to 123, the ministry said.

The five new cases were citizens who returned from South Africa, and are in isolation, the ministry said.