The novel coronavirus has infected more than 5 million people and killed more than 325,000 worldwide, according to a tally from pandemic data tracker Worldometer at 8.30pm yesterday based on official sources.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
The United States tops the global rankings both for the highest death toll and the highest number of infections, with more than 1.5 million cases.
The country is continuing to post high daily case counts, though the numbers have remained relatively steady for over a month.
The US has recorded the most deaths at 91,938. It is followed by Britain with 35,341, Italy with 32,169, France with 28,022 and Spain with 27,778.
Russia reports its highest ever daily death toll of 135, bringing the country's total fatalities to nearly 3,000, with 308,705 cases recorded.
It also sees the number of active virus cases drop for the first time.
Health officials in Brazil report 1,179 new deaths, the first time the daily toll exceeds 1,000, but far-right President Jair Bolsonaro remains bitterly opposed to lockdowns.
Fresh ire from Trump
US President Donald Trump again lashes out at China over the pandemic, blaming Beijing for "mass Worldwide killing" in an early morning tweet.
"It was the 'incompetence of China', and nothing else, that did this mass Worldwide killing," the president tweets.
Rolls-Royce slashes jobs
The British maker of plane engines says it will cut at least 9,000 jobs - nearly one-fifth of its global workforce - and slash costs elsewhere.
Spain's children mask up
Everyone in Spain aged six and above must wear a mask in public places where social distancing is not possible, officials say, with the new rule to be enforced from Thursday.
Grim projection in South Africa
A consortium called the Modelling and Simulation Hub Africa (MASHA), comprising experts from the University of Cape Town and the Department of Health, release its first projections of the impact of the pandemic in South Africa.
The scientists say more than a million people in the country could be infected by the virus, causing at least 40,000 deaths, by the time the disease reaches a likely peak there in November.
Germany targets abattoirs
The German government bans the use of subcontractors in the meat industry after a string of infections among mainly foreign slaughterhouse workers.
"It's time to clean up the sector," Labour Minister Hubertus Heil says.
From January 1, 2021 abattoirs and meat processing plants will have to directly employ their workers, putting an end to the controversial practice of relying on subcontractors to supply labourers from abroad, often from Bulgaria and Romania.
