Coronavirus latest: US sees record daily case spike

– US has record high of 67,632 new cases in a day

– Venezuela, Ireland halt reopening as cases surge

– California sees 11,000 new cases with more than 140 deaths

All updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC/GMT)

02:15 Ireland is putting on hold plans to end its lockdown because of a spike in new infections, Prime Minister Micheal Martin has announced.

Ireland had been set to enter the fourth and final phase of relaxing its restrictions this coming Monday but now this has been postponed for the foreseeable future. As a result, Irish citizens will have to wait for a full reopening of pubs and bars.

Read more: Stale beer turned into animal feed and distance drinking: Irish pubs in the age of coronavirus

01:55 The Australian state of Victoria has revealed two men in their 80s died overnight from COVID-19.

The country’s second-most populated state also reported a record daily increase in people infected with the virus.

Victoria registered 317 new daily infections, the highest since the coronavirus outbreak emerged. The previous high for the state that is home to some 6.5 million people was 288 new cases, which occurred last week.

Meanwhile, the Australian government plans to spend A$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion, €964 million) to help offset the crisis brought about by the pandemic. The funding will be used to extend a program to subsidize the wages of apprentices.

01:12 A lawmaker in Chile has sprinted through congress wearing a pink cape to celebrate the passing of a coronavirus emergency bill in the South American country’s lower house.

While donning a face mask, caped crusader Pamela Jiles ran repeatedly past President Sebastian Pinera’s Cabinet, who had opposed the bill.

Pamela Jiles brought fellow lawmakers to their feet with her caped performance

Jiles is a former journalist and a member of the far-left Broad Front coalition which represents a poor area of the Chilean capital, Santiago.

She has been a fervent supporter of the proposal to allow citizens hit hard by lockdown measures to withdraw up to 10% of privately held pension funds. The act will be voted on by senators next week.

00:55 The US set a daily record of 67,632 cases in less than 24 hours, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.  The world’s worst-affected nation has seen a surge since June, especially in the southern and western parts of the country.

For the last 10 days, new cases have been within the range of 55,000 and 65,000 per day. More than 137,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the US.

Meanwhile, the state of California reported its second worst day in terms of cases and deaths on Wednesday, with more than 11,000 new infections and 140 fatalities. The number of tests and those testing positive has also risen in the state.

The positivity rate reached 7% for the last two weeks. Los Angeles county had a positivity rate of more than 10%

00:24 Many nations across the globe saw coronavirus cases rising on Wednesday, forcing them to reconsider plans of reopening. The number of cases has crossed 13.4 million and more than 579,000 have died worldwide.

Latin America, the world’s second hardest hit region topped 150,000 deaths on Wednesday. Venezuela announced localized restrictions just four days after ending lockdown. Ireland too had to halt reopening plans as cases surged.

00:00 Catch up on yesterday’s coronavirus news here

In reporting on the coronavirus pandemic, unless otherwise specified, DW uses figures provided by the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Coronavirus Resource Center in the United States. JHU updates figures in real-time, collating data from world health organizations, state and national governments, and other public official sources, all of whom have their own systems for compiling information.

Germany’s national statistics are compiled by its public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). These figures depend on data transmission from state and local levels and are updated around once a day, which can lead to deviation from JHU.

 tg,jsi/dr  (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)

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