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WHO Reports Record 3 Million New COVID-19 Cases Over Recent Seven-Day Period


A person wearing a protective mask walks near a social-distancing sign, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in Coventry, Britain, Oct. 25, 2020.
A person wearing a protective mask walks near a social-distancing sign, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in Coventry, Britain, Oct. 25, 2020.

The World Health Organization says a record 2.8 million new COVID-19 cases have been reported globally over the past seven days ending Tuesday, including 40,000 new deaths.

The U.N. health agency says Europe accounts for the greatest proportion of reported new cases for the second consecutive week with more than 1.3 million, an increase of 33% compared to the previous week. The region accounted for nearly half of the new COVID-19 cases during the seven-day period.

The figures also show that cases are also increasing in the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean and African regions, while declines continue to be reported in Southeast Asia. The Western Pacific region also showed a slight decline in new cases and deaths over the seven-day period.

WATCH: Taking steps to stop the spread of COVID-19

WHO said the countries reporting the highest number of cases over the past week are India, the United States, France, Brazil and Britain -- the same countries as the previous three weeks.

The virus has even affected operations at the U.N.’s main headquarters in New York. General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir cancelled all in-person meetings Tuesday after five staffers with Niger’s mission to the world body tested positive for COVID-19.

The United States has posted a record 502,828 new COVID-19 cases over the past week, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, an average of more than 70,000 new cases. The previous record of 481,519 new cases was just recorded for the week ending October 24.

One region that has experienced a high number of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is the midwest, especially the state of Illinois, where Governor J.B. Pritzker has imposed a new round of restrictions, especially in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city. The governor on Tuesday announced a ban on all indoor service in bars and restaurants beginning Friday at midnight.

Tequila Butler, left, sets up her taco stand out of the back of a U-Haul truck with her daughters, Alliyah, 15, rear, and Chardonnay, 14, in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood in Chicago, Aug. 27, 2020.

Further west of Chicago, Mayor Michael Hancock of Denver, Colorado, has ordered restaurants and other businesses to limit the number of patrons from 50% to 25%, as the state capital posted a one-day record of 327 new coronavirus cases on Sunday.

The United States leads the world with more than 8.7 million total COVID-19 cases, including nearly 226,700 deaths. One new case is Justin Turner of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, who was pulled from Tuesday’s World Series game against the Tampa Bay Rays after officials learned he had tested positive for the disease.

Turner was pulled late in the game before the Dodgers defeated the Rays 3-1 to win the league’s season-ending championship.

In the effort to develop a new coronavirus vaccine, U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer said its large, late-stage trial of its experimental vaccine it is developing with Germany's BioNTech has not reached a key milestone, making it unlikely that it will be released before the upcoming November 3 U.S. presidential election.

The company said fewer than 32 COVID-19 infections among its 44,000 volunteers have occurred, a necessary benchmark to determine whether the drug is safe and effective.

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