Global COVID-19 cases surpass 46.8 million

Global update:

• Global cases have surpassed 46.84 million while the death toll has surpassed 1.20 million; recoveries are at 33.75 million.
• The US has 9.47 million cases, accounting for 20% of global cases; the death toll is 236,471.
• India has 8.22 million cases and 122,642 deaths.
• Brazil’s cases are at 5.54 million and 160,104 deaths have been reported; Russia has 1.63 million confirmed cases and 28,235 deaths.
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a one-month stay-at-home policy for all of England starting this Thursday.  Schools, universities and essential stores will remain open; these UK lockdown measures may be extended if they fail to contain the outbreak.
• As the virus spreads in the UK, drug regulators are believed to have started reviews of COVID-19 vaccines under development from Pfizer and AstraZeneca. The review could see British authorities move ahead of European peers on clearing a vaccine.
• Austria, Greece and Portugal have become the latest EU members to deploy or expand shutdowns for November.
• Australia has recorded its first day with no local cases of COVID-19 transmission since June.
• Anthony Fauci warned there won't be a return to normal until the end of 2021 at least.  A recent study has found that the death rate is higher in high-income countries; these countries typically have older populations.
• Sanofi and GloxoSmithKline have pledged to supply 200 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate to the WHO-led COVAX initiative. The initiative is designed to ensure equal distribution of the vaccine globally.

Africa update:

• Africa’s COVID-19 cases remain relatively low, with confirmed cases at 1.79 million; fatalities are at 43,177.
• Morocco has 222,544 reported cases, Nigeria 62,964, Ghana 48,124 and Kenya 55,877.
• The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has urged African nations to accelerate their preparations for a second wave. Cases have been rising rapidly across some African countries. Over the past week, cases have increased by 45% per week on average in Kenya, by 19% in the DRC and by 8% in Egypt.

South Africa update:

• SA reached 100,000 cases on 22 June (in 110 days); it took a further 14 days to reach 200,000, 9 days to reach 300,000, a further 8 days to reach 400,000, 9 days more to breach 500,000, 20 days to reach 600,000. However, the daily rate of increase is now starting to ease.
• SA currently has the 12th highest caseload, with 726,823 cases, an increase of 1,371 new cases.
• COVID-19 deaths rose by 135 yesterday, to 19,411; 655,330 people have recovered from the virus, a recovery rate of 90%.
• Gauteng has the highest number of confirmed cases, at 228,948 (accounting for 31.5% of the total); 4,828 deaths have been reported. 
• The Western Cape has 117,592 (accounting for 16.2% of the total) and 4,365 deaths while KwaZulu-Natal has 123,257 (accounting for 17% of the total) and 3,225 deaths.
• The Eastern Cape has 97,021 cases (accounting for 13.3% of the total) and 3,703 deaths.
• 4.84 million tests have been conducted since 5 March; 19,543 were in the past 24 hours.

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