Reuters Health News Summary

WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases for second day in a row The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. U.S. coronavirus cases rise by over 70,000 for second day in a row

For a second day in a row, U.S. coronavirus cases rose by over 70,000 as Americans clashed over wearing masks and whether to reopen schools in a few weeks. Cases on Friday rose by at least 70,674 after climbing by a record 77,499 on Thursday, the largest increase posted by any country since the pandemic started, according to a Reuters tally. Georgia governor urges people to wear masks but won't support mandate

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Friday urged all people in his state to wear a mask for four weeks to combat COVID-19 but declined to support mandates to wear masks, saying mandates were unenforceable. "I'm confident Georgians don't need a mask mandate to do the right thing," Kemp, who sued the city of Atlanta on Thursday to stop it from issuing a mask mandate, told a news conference. For first time, world records one million coronavirus cases in 100 hours: Reuters tally

Global coronavirus infections passed 14 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking the first time there has been a surge of 1 million cases in under 100 hours. The first case was reported in China in early January and it took three months to reach 1 million cases. It has taken just four days to climb to 14 million cases from 13 million recorded on July 13. Philippines confirms 113 more novel coronavirus deaths, 2,357 more cases

The Philippines' health ministry on Saturday reported 113 more new coronavirus deaths and 2,357 additional infections. In a bulletin, the ministry said total deaths have increased to 1,773 while confirmed cases have reached 65,304, with the capital and Cebu City in central Philippines accounting for the bulk of the infections as the virus spreads. UK pauses daily coronavirus death toll update over data concerns

Britain said on Saturday it was pausing its daily update of the death toll from the coronavirus after the government ordered a review into the calculation of the data over concerns the toll might have been exaggerated. Academics have said the way that Public Health England (PHE), the government agency responsible for managing infectious disease outbreaks, calculates the figures in England means they may be distorted compared to other parts of the United Kingdom. WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases, up over 237,000

The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Friday, with the total rising by 237,743 in 24 hours. The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 230,370 on July 12. Deaths have held steady and averaged less than 5,000 a day in July. Rouhani says 25 million Iranians may have been infected with coronavirus

President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that some 25 million Iranians may have been infected with coronavirus, as Iran reimposed restrictions in the capital and elsewhere. The figure, from a report Rouhani cited in a televised speech, was far higher than Saturday's official figure for infections of 271,606, and corresponds to more than 30% of Iran's 80 million population. WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases for second day in a row

The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours. The biggest increases reported on Saturday were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 237,743 on Friday. Deaths rose by 7,360, the biggest one-day increase since May 10. Deaths have been averaging 4,800 a day in July, up slightly from an average of 4,600 a day in June. Mainland China reports 22 new coronavirus cases, including 16 in Xinjiang

China reported 22 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 17, up from 10 cases a day earlier, the health authority said on Saturday. Of the new infections, 16 were in far western region of Xinjiang, according to a statement by the National Health Commission. The other six were imported cases. Indonesia overtakes China with highest coronavirus cases in East Asia

Indonesia overtook China on Saturday as the country with the most confirmed coronavirus cases in East Asia with 84,882 infections, and authorities said the actual infection rate could be higher due to undetected cases. Data from the country's COVID-19 task force showed 1,752 new coronavirus infections on Saturday and 59 fatalities, taking the coronavirus-related death toll to 4,016.