Police officers check the documents of passengers outside Atocha railway station in Madrid, Spain, on Oct 9, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

BERLIN / NEW YORK / SAN PAULO / CARIO - Global cases of COVID-19 reached a daily record of 350,766, the World Health Organization reported on Friday.

According to the data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University, the total COVID-19 infections has passed 36.7 million with over 1.06 million deaths. 

Cases are flaring around Europe and rising again in the US. Meanwhile, the number of infections in India is catching up with the US. “There are no new answers,” said Michael Ryan, the WHO emergencies chief. “The majority of people in the world are still susceptible to this disease.”

Russia

Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 12,846 on Saturday, a new daily record since the start of the outbreak early this year, pushing the overall total number of infections to 1,285,084.

The previous record of 12,126 new cases was registered on Friday.

Russia’s coronavirus crisis center said 197 more deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 22,454.

Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Health Ministry on Saturday morning reported a record high of 612 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours in the country, taking the national tally to 23,871.

The previous daily records of 516, 437 and 436 new cases were reported on Friday, Thursday and Wednesday, respectively.

Meanwhile, the country's COVID-19 death toll has reached 887 after seven more patients died in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she and mayors from Germany’s 11 largest cities agreed on Friday to adopt stricter anti-coronavirus measures if infections exceed a threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 population in a week.

Restrictions could include tighter rules on mask-wearing, restrictions on private gatherings and stricter rules on buying alcohol, Merkel said, adding that her top priority was to avoid shutting down the economy and society again, as in the spring.

It was still possible to bring the pandemic under control i Germany, Merkel said, adding that she was aware the restrictions were painful.

Germany recorded 4,554 new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours through Saturday, the third-straight day the number topped 4,000.

The country also registered 64 new deaths from the virus, the highest since May. The reproduction rate, known as R-0, climbed to 1.34 on Friday from 1.17 a day earlier. The gauge has remained above the key threshold of 1 for a week amid surges in the number of new infections in multiple German cities in recent weeks.

UK

The UK Government is due to impose additional restrictions in Liverpool including the closures of bars and pubs, Sky News reporter Inzamam Rashid says in a post on Twitter.

The measures in Liverpool are likely to come into force on October 14, Sky’s Rashid said, adding that Liverpool has seen an uptick in hospital admissions.

British ministers are also mulling further restrictions in other areas of northern England where the coronavirus is spreading the fastest. Earlier this week, Scotland ordered the closure of pubs in five regions including Greater Glasgow and Lothian until Oct 25.

France

France reported a record 20,339 new coronavirus cases on Friday, with the weekly pace of infections rising for a seventh day. The seven-day rolling average of new infections, which smooths out daily variations, jumped to 14,618, the highest since the start of the outbreak.

While cases have jumped, deaths have increased at a slower pace, remaining near an average 70 a day this month.

Ireland

Ireland reported the most new cases since April for the second time in a week, as authorities warned the profile of the virus continues to deteriorate. There were 617 new cases, the most since April 26, with five deaths. The cases were spread across every county in the nation.

READ MORE: Spain invokes state of emergency for Madrid lockdown

Italy

Italy’s new cases surged for a fourth day, reaching 5,372, the most since late March. That’s well above the previous seven-day average of 2,999. Daily testing hit a record and the positivity rate kept climbing to 4.1%, the highest since April.

Lombardy, the epicenter of the outbreak earlier this year, reported a 44 percent increase in new cases to 983. Patients in intensive care units rose by 29 to 387, still about a 10th of the April peak. Another 28 deaths were reported.

Hungary 

Hungary reported a daily record of 1,374 new coronavirus cases as well as 20 deaths, according to data published on Saturday.

Limited testing though is clouding the extent of the pandemic in Hungary and the number of new cases the country can detect, Beatrix Orosz, the head of a government ministry’s virus-monitoring task force, told Inforadio on Friday. Hungary isn’t planning new restrictive measures in the next three weeks, according to Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

US

US President Donald Trump has approved a revised COVID-19 relief package in the negotiations with congressional Democrats, White House's National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Friday.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to discuss a new US$1.8 trillion relief proposal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when the two speak Friday afternoon, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, nine cases have been linked to a rally held by Trump at Bemidji, Minnesota, on Sept 18, state health department director Kris Ehresmann was quoted as saying by broadcaster KSTP.

Anthony Fauci, the US’s top infectious-disease expert, said that a gathering in the White House Rose Garden last month was a “super-spreader event” for the novel coronavirus.

The US government will invest about US$486 million in developing AstraZeneca Plc’s experimental long-acting antibody cocktail, the company said in a statement Friday.

AstraZeneca said it plans to supply up to 100,000 doses of the drug starting toward the end of the year and the US can acquire another one million doses next year through a separate agreement. The experimental treatment will move into phase 3 trials in the next few weeks.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is suffering Europe’s worst outbreak of COVID-19, with new cases exceeding 5,000 a day this week. On Friday, there were 8,618 infections, a record. Prime Minister Andrej Babis said a return to a complete lockdown of its economy can’t be ruled out.

Canada

Ontario is forcing businesses to close or reduce operations in three major cities after COVID-19 cases hit a record high on the eve of the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

Canada’s largest province ordered indoor businesses including bars, gyms, casinos, movie theaters and restaurant dining rooms to close for 28 days, starting Saturday at 12:01 am. The measure applies to Toronto, Ottawa and Peel, a suburban region west of Toronto.

ALSO READ: Virus vaccine 'unlikely' to be ready for use this year in EU

Brazil 

Brazil reported 27,444 new cases and may end up with the lowest weekly number of infections since late May. If the trend holds, it would be the third consecutive week of declining reported cases.

Weekly deaths may fall to the lowest since early May after the government reported 682 additional virus-related fatalities on Friday, increasing the toll to 149,639, according to the Health Ministry’s website.

Egypt 

Egypt recorded late on Friday 106 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the country to 104,262.

Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement that 12 more deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 6,029.

Meanwhile, 68 more patients recovered and left hospitals, bringing the total recoveries to 97,592, the spokesman added.

Algeria 

Algeria on Friday reported 146 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total tally of infections to 52,804, the Ministry of Health said.

The ministry also announced six new fatalities from the novel coronavirus, raising the country's death toll to 1,789.

Libya 

The National Center for Disease Control of Libya on Friday reported 1,076 new COVID-19 cases, the second highest daily increase so far, raising the total number in the country to 41,368.

The new cases were detected after 3,694 suspected samples were tested, the Center said in a statement.

Morocco 

Morocco registered on Friday record daily high of 3,445 COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally to 146,398.

The death toll rose by 44 to 2,530, while 425 patients are in intensive care units, said the health ministry in a press release.