The world saw its highest single-day increase in coronavirus infections Wednesday, a day after the U.S. set a record for new cases, as the deadly pathogen continued to spread.
Globally, some 230,400 new infections were recorded Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, eclipsing the previous single-day high of about 229,900 on Friday. The U.S., which saw a single-day record 67,417 new confirmed cases Tuesday, added about 66,300 on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins.
There are nearly 3.5 million confirmed cases in the U.S., and 137,419 people have died of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, according to Johns Hopkins data. World-wide, more than 13.57 million people are known to have been infected and 584,385 have died.
Amid rising case counts across southern U.S. states, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order late Wednesday explicitly banning cities and counties from requiring that masks be worn in public.
In doing so, Mr. Kemp voided mask mandates issued by at least 15 local governments amid a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases in the state that pushed its death toll past 3,000. Mr. Kemp, a Republican, has said that mask mandates are unenforceable.
His order extended Georgia’s public emergency and stated that residents and visitors in the state are “strongly encouraged” to wear face coverings when in public. Mr. Kemp’s move to override local officials drew swift backlash from those who had imposed mask mandates.
“It is officially official. Governor Kemp does not give a damn about us,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, a Democrat, tweeted Wednesday. “Every man and woman for himself/herself. Ignore the science and survive the best you can.”
Governors across the country have come under growing pressure to enact statewide mask requirements as some states struggle with major outbreaks of new cases.
A Covid-19 testing site Wednesday in Austin, Texas; the state has seen a surge in coronavirus cases.
Photo: Bob Daemmrich/Zuma PressTexas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued a statewide mask mandate earlier this month after initially resisting calls for such an order and at one point effectively banning local governments from requiring masks. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, announced a new order mandating face coverings in public despite opposition from the state’s Republican-controlled legislature.
But the Republican governors of two states with the largest surge in new cases—Florida and Arizona—have ignored calls from local leaders to mandate masks.
Florida, which has been a hot spot for the virus, reported 13,837 new cases for Wednesday, its most since July 11 when new cases topped 15,000. More than a fifth of the state’s over 311,000 cases have been in people between ages 25 and 34 years old.
A woman received a Covid-19 test Wednesday at a walk-up site in Miami Beach, Fla.
Photo: cristobal herrera-ulashkevich/ShutterstockIn nearby Mississippi, where cases are up more than 17% from a week ago according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data, an order from Gov. Tate Reeves went into effect Monday requiring masks in public for residents of 13 counties. That order includes the county that is home to the state’s capital, Jackson. Inside, social gatherings are capped at 10 people, and outside, they are capped at 20. The state had 1,025 new cases Tuesday.
One state over, Louisiana on Wednesday reported 2,095 new cases. Cases there have risen by nearly 20% from a week ago, according to the Journal’s analysis. Earlier this month, Mr. Edwards mandated people over the age of 8 years old wear masks, closed indoor bar operations and capped indoor social gatherings at 50 people. Parishes without many Covid-19 cases are allowed to opt out of the mask requirement.
States across the U.S. are struggling to contain the virus as long wait times for test results hampers containment efforts such as contact tracing. Forty-six states had a seven-day average of new cases higher than their average during the past two weeks, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data. That held true in 44 states at the start of the month and 21 states at the beginning of June, suggesting recent increases in new cases.
Comparing one- and two-week averages of new coronavirus cases helps smooth out anomalies in the data, including those caused when states don’t report cases during a weekend.
The increase in cases has pushed hospitals in the South and West to near capacity, stranding some patients in emergency rooms and forcing others to relocate to free up beds. Cities including Houston, Miami and Phoenix are struggling with shortages of both hospital beds and staff.
The economic toll continued to mount. New unemployment benefits applications on Thursday held about steady for the week that ended this past Saturday at 1.3 million. They peaked in late March at 6.9 million, but are still at historic highs.
Outside the U.S., cases continued to surge, hitting single-day highs in many countries, including some areas that had seen success in containing the virus.
Japan was poised Thursday to reach a new high in daily infections since a state of emergency was lifted in May.
Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering
India on Thursday reported 32,695 new cases of coronavirus in the preceding 24 hours, its second single-day record in a row, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 968,876, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It reported 606 new deaths in the period, bringing the country’s total to 24,915.
Sources: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering; the Lancet; Associated Press; U.S. Census
France is speeding up plans to make it compulsory to wear face masks in enclosed public spaces, with the Mayenne region making mask-wearing mandatory in several areas immediately.
President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that masks would be mandatory in stores and other public spaces from Aug. 1 because it appeared the virus was spreading again. But Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday that the new requirement would take effect next week.
Official figures show the transmission of the virus has slowed in France since May, but it has killed more than 30,000 people and is spreading again.
The Australian state of Victoria recorded the highest daily total for any state or territory in that country since the pandemic began, with 317 new cases and two more deaths. Authorities said they would suspend some elective surgery to boost capacity in the state’s hospital.
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Indonesia and the Philippines have seen a steady rise in infections in recent weeks.
Indonesia’s 80,000 confirmed cases are the most of any East Asian country after China, and cases continue to grow in urban regions throughout the archipelago nation. Nevertheless, businesses and places of worship are reopening around the country as local governments ease restrictions.
Last week, President Joko Widodo called increasing infections a red light, and this week said the government is considering fining those who don’t follow health protocols.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday extended measures to limit the spread of the virus in the capital, Manila, and elsewhere to contend with the nation’s rising cases. So far, 59,000 people have tested positive for the disease, with case counts rising sharply in early July, weeks after the strictest phase of the lockdown ended in Manila.
In Spain, officials and foreign diplomats gathered in Madrid with the relatives of the more than 28,000 people who have died of Covid-19 in the country. Many of some 400 guests stood spaced out wearing black face masks at the Royal Palace. They laid white roses on a black pedestal.
“You are not alone in your pain. It’s our shared pain, it’s our grief that today is witnessed here by all Spaniards,” King Felipe VI said.
Write to Sabrina Siddiqui at Sabrina.Siddiqui@wsj.com and Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com
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