Africa surpasses 1 million cases of Covid-19

Africa has recorded more than 1 million Covid-19 cases, according to a CNN tally based on data from Johns Hopkins University. 

As of early Friday morning, the continent has seen a total of 1,008,154 confirmed coronavirus infections.

South Africa accounts for more than half the continent’s reported cases, with 536,184 confirmed infections as of early Friday morning.

On Thursday, World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Moeti warned that the lack of testing across Africa remains a "constant and concerning challenge."

Australia's military visited 1,150 homes yesterday in the state of Victoria to conduct contact tracing, part of the country's renewed effort to stop a renewed spread of Covid-19.

State Premier Daniel Andrews said it was the largest single-day effort by the Australian Defense Force (ADF) since the military began going door-to-door.

Victoria is under renewed cororonavirus restrictions, including a lockdown in the state capital, Melbourne, following a spike in cases. 

Authorities said more than 150 people were not home when the ADF visited, all of whom could face heavy fines for potentially flouting lockdown rules.

More cases identified: Authorities in Victoria said Friday that they had identified another 450 new coronavirus cases, bringing the statewide total to nearly 13,500, according to Australia's Department of Health.

Across Australia, 19,862 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19. Of those, 255 have died and 11,112 have recovered.

More than 19 million cases of Covid-19 have now been diagnosed across the planet since the pandemic began late last year, according to a global tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Cases are spiking again in many countries. The United States, India and Brazil are the hardest hit nations and do not appear to be close to containing their outbreaks.

CNN is tracking worldwide coronavirus cases here:

People visit an art exhibition on the fight against Covid-19 at the National Museum of China in Beijing on August 5. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

Health authorities in China recorded 37 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, 27 of which were locally transmitted.

All but one of the local cases were identified in the western province of Xinjiang, which has seen a fresh outbreak of the virus in its capital Urumqi since July 15, after nearly five months of no new infections.

China also identified 14 new asymptomatic cases, which the country's National Health Commission categorizes separately.

More than 2 million cases of Covid-19 have been identified in India since the pandemic began, authorities said.

India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said Friday morning that it had identified 62,538 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 2,027,074. Of those, 41,585 patients have died while more than 1.3 million have recovered.

In India, patients with mild and moderate symptoms are considered no longer active after 10 days of symptom onset if they meet certain conditions. A test to confirm that they no longer have the virus is not required. Severe cases can only be discharged after one negative coronavirus test

Accelerating epidemic: India recorded its first case of Covid-19 on January 30 and hit 1 million cases on July 17.

Since then, cases have been spiking. It took just 12 days for the country to go from 1 million cases to 1.5 million, and then another nine days to reach 2 million cases.

To date, only Brazil and the United States have identified more coronavirus cases than India.

Relatives of a Covid-19 victim mourn during a funeral at a graveyard in Comas, in the northern outskirts of Lima on August 5. Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images

Peruvian authorities identified 7,785 new Covid-19 patients Thursday, the highest number of cases reported in a single day in the country since the pandemic began.

More than 455,000 people have now been diagnosed with the virus in Peru, according to the country's Health Ministry. At least 194 people died from the virus Thursday, bringing the country's death toll to 20,424.

Peru is one of Latin America's hardest-hit countries -- only Mexico and Brazil have recorded more Covid-19 patients -- and cases have been accelerating over the past two weeks.

CNN is tracking worldwide coronavirus cases here:

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said in a Facebook Live appearance that his country is "going to get on with life," as it inches closer to recording 100,000 deaths connected to the pandemic.

Brazil's Covid-19 death toll reached nearly 98,500 on Thursday. More than 2.9 million cases have been identified in the country since the pandemic began.

Bolsonaro later attributed the high number of fatalities to what he described as an error in diagnosing the cause of deaths in Brazil.

More hydroxychloroquine: Bolsonaro also said he might ask US President Donald Trump for more of the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine to help him combat Covid-19.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug that some have touted as a treatment for Covid-19, but more evidence has been emerging recently that it does not help coronavirus patients. Several studies have found no benefits to treating Covid-19 patients with the antimalarial drug and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said last month there was “no evidence” that the drug helps treat Covid-19.

Bolsonaro mentioned that Trump donated the drug to the Brazilian government in May and said he can ask for more.

“I accepted the donation of the pills, which have not yet been distributed. I have no problem calling the American president. If (he) has more, send it to us. We will send a plane to get it, or he will send a plane here. And we can distribute this material,” he said. 

A mother and her daughters pray at the Students Peace Monument on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, on August 6, in Hiroshima, Japan. Carl Court/Getty Images

Japan's Health Ministry recorded 1,490 Covid-19 infections on Thursday, the second-highest number of cases the country has identified in a single day during the pandemic and yet another worrying sign that its latest outbreak shows no signs of abating.

Thursday marks the 10th straight day the country has recorded more than 900 cases of the novel coronavirus. Authorities have now identified at least 44,527 cases of Covid-19, more than half of which have been reported since the beginning of July

Seven deaths were reported Thursday, bringing the nationwide death toll to 1,046.

Trouble in Tokyo: Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike urged people in the Japanese capital to refrain from traveling during the upcoming Obon summer vacation season to stop the infection spread.

Authorities reported 360 new infections in Tokyo on Thursday, the 10th consecutive day of more than 200 cases in row.

To date, more than 14,500 cases of Covid-19 have been identified in the Japanese capital.

Infections spiking elsewhere: Kanagawa, a prefecture that neighbors Tokyo, crossed the triple digit threshold for the first time Thursday, reporting 119 infections. Osaka also posted its highest number of cases in a single day Thursday, with 225.

Five former directors of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criticized the contradictory messages put out by President Donald Trump's administration Thursday.

Here's what some of them said:

Dr. Thomas Frieden said that the CDC had been sidelined early on in the pandemic and described Trump’s contradictory messages as “chaotic leadership,” which has led to partisanship, confusion and increased spread of the virus.

Dr. Jeffrey Koplan said that every falsehood put forward by the US government damages the nation’s mitigation efforts against the virus. Americans want information from the CDC, he said. 

Dr. Richard Besser said the federal response to the pandemic has been “absolutely unacceptable” considering the US is the wealthiest nation on the planet.

He also criticized politicians for viewing CDC guidelines as an obstacle.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, who headed the CDC under former president George W. Bush, said she hopes that the government can learn from this crisis.

“I really do hope that finally it's gotten so bad that we will reinvent how we think about our health security in the context of our national security," 

Dr. David Satcher, a former US Surgeon General who headed the CDC under former president Bill Clinton, said communities of color that have been hit harder by the pandemic are going to require particular attention during recovery efforts

“It's going to say a lot about us as a nation, whether we step up to this challenge, and remove many of the structural barriers to health that people in this country face," he said.