China reports its highest number of local Covid-19 infections since March

A health worker takes a swab sample test for Covid-19 at a makeshift testing center in Dalian, China on July 27. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

China recorded 57 local Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the highest number the country has seen since it brought the coronavirus largely under control in March, according to figures released by the National Health Commission on Monday.

Among the locally transmitted cases, 41 were found in the far western region of Xinjiang, where the coronavirus resurfaced on July 15 after nearly five months of no new cases.

The remaining cases were discovered in the country's northeast, including 14 in Liaoning province and two in Jilin province.

Sunday's figure is the highest number of local infections the country has reported since March 6, surpassing the daily spikes during a coronavirus outbreak in Beijing last month.

On Sunday, China also recorded four imported cases and 44 asymptomatic infections. The country does not include asymptomatic cases in its overall tally of confirmed infections.

As of Monday, China has reported a total of 83,981 confirmed cases, including 4,634 deaths, according to the NHC.

For travelers around the world, visiting a tropical beach resort in Thailand feels like a far-off dream right now due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. 

The country's borders remain closed to international tourists and plans for an aviation "bubble" with other nations continue to sputter. 

Thailand's tourism sector, which contributes close to 15% of its GDP according to the World Bank, has been severely impacted. 

For the moment, domestic travelers are infusing some much-needed cash into the ailing industry. Thailand hasn't reported a locally transmitted Covid-19 infection in more than 50 days, giving travelers a sense of security as they hit the road. 

Though destinations like Koh Samui and Phuket continue to suffer from the lack of overseas visitors, resort towns within driving distance of Bangkok are taking advantage of locals' urge to travel following weeks of lockdown. 

The seaside town of Hua Hin: Located about a 2.5-hour drive from Bangkok, it's Thailand's first beach resort, having become a popular retreat for royalty and upper-class families in the early 1900s. Today, you'll find a wide mix of accommodation offerings, from guest houses to five-star luxury properties, including many big global brands. 

CNN Travel recently visited three different high-end Hua Hin properties -- all experiencing high occupancy rates -- and spoke with their managers to find out how they're adapting to Thailand's post-Covid realities and what guests can expect during a stay.

Read the full story:

A suspected coronavirus patient who entered North Korea from the South was allegedly fleeing arrest, the South Korean police said on Monday.

On Sunday, North Korean state media reported the country’s first suspected Covid-19 case -- a man who defected to South Korea three years ago and returned to the North illegally earlier this month.

The South Korean defense ministry acknowledged on Monday that the man is believed to have returned to North Korea.

According to a news release from the South Korean police, the man was accused of a sex crime in the South and crossed the border in the Incheon area on July 17.

South Korean defense ministry spokesman Moon Hong-sik said authorities discovered an abandoned bag on the border, which they believed may provide evidence for the case.

The man had not been registered as a coronavirus patient in South Korea, or a person in contact with a confirmed case, according to South Korea’s health ministry. 

North Korea has previously claimed that the country has no confirmed Covid-19 cases.

US President Donald Trump walks off Marine One, on the South Lawn of the White House on July 26, in Washington, DC. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump's top aides are stepping up blame-game tactics against the states, saying coronavirus testing problems and rising cases are not his fault as they try to counter new polls suggesting that his leadership failings could cost him reelection.

The move comes as Republicans on Capitol Hill haggle over a measure that would replace, with smaller benefits, $600 a week in federal aid to millions of workers that has already paid out for the last time, even as out-of-control virus spikes cause some states to slow or reverse opening plans.

The new administration drive to absolve Trump of responsibility and to speed up economic activity by encouraging people to go back to work follow the President's previously misjudged gamble to goad states that are now suffering terribly from the pandemic to open before they had properly suppressed the virus. It also coincides with his demands that all schools open while ignoring concerns of parents and teachers.

With many states complaining that delays in processing coronavirus tests are making it impossible to check the spread of the disease, the administration claimed again on Sunday that its "Manhattan Project" on testing is sufficient.

Giroir, who did allow that turnaround times for tests needed to improve, said states had not claimed all of the money allocated to build up test and tracing networks seen as critical to quelling the pandemic.

But Maryland's Republican Gov. Larry Hogan told CNN's Jake Tapper on the same show that Trump's claims that every governor had what they needed from Washington were false.

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The United States recorded 54,953 new coronavirus cases and 470 new deaths on Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

At least 4,233,923 cases of Covid-19 have now been reported in the US, including at least 146,935 related deaths. 

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

CNN is tracking US coronavirus cases here: 

Those are the words an Asian-American woman from Seattle, Washington, heard while boarding an airplane. The passenger who said it was staring directly at her.

This is one of more than 2,100 anti-Asian, pandemic-related hate incidents documented and submitted to Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting center founded by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council.

Since its launch in March, Stop AAPI Hate has recorded incidents ranging from verbal harassment and physical assault to civil rights violations.

California Assembly member David Chiu. California State Assembly

CNN previously reported that attacks on Asian people or people who appear to be East Asian have intensified after the coronavirus outbreak began in China.

Even the FBI has concerns. In April, in a letter to law enforcement officials, FBI Director Christopher Wray wrote that his agency remains "concerned about the potential for hate crimes by individuals and groups targeting minority populations in the United States who they believe are responsible for the spread of the virus."

With the increase of reports of anti-Asian hate across the world, many Asian travelers are feeling more vulnerable than ever -- in their own neighborhoods and on the road.

CNN Travel talked to Asians who travel for a living to see how they have been affected by the pandemic.

Read their stories here:

A health worker collects a swab sample collection booth for Covid-19 testing at Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, on July 26, in New Delhi, India. Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

India recorded its highest single-day jump of 49,931 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement issued on Monday.

As of Monday morning, India has reported a total of 1,435,453 confirmed coronavirus infections, including more than 485,000 active cases, the statement said. The total number of recovered patients stands at 917,568.

The country also recorded 708 new Covid-19 related fatalities on Sunday, bringing the total death toll to 32,771, the statement added. 

More than 16.8 million samples have been tested across India as of Monday, the Indian Council of Medical Research said.

India has the third-highest number of virus cases worldwide, after the United States and Brazil.

PM's claim: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that his country's response to the pandemic has defied global expectations.

Modi claimed the coronavirus recovery rate was better in India than in other countries but warned that the threat of the disease remained.

"We need to remain vigilant. We have to remember that coronavirus is still as dangerous as it was in the beginning," he added.

Read more:

People wearing face masks are seen in front of Osaka Station on July 22, amid the spread of the novel coronavirus.  Kyodo News via Getty Images

Japan's health ministry recorded 839 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, raising the total number of cases reported nationwide to 30,701.

The death toll stands at 1,009.

Of Sunday's new cases, 239 were from Tokyo. It marks the sixth consecutive day that the capital has reported more than 200 new cases.

Meanwhile, the city of Osaka reported 141 new cases.

Case numbers have been rising in Japan in recent weeks, with the virus spreading to US military bases in Okinawa prefecture. On Saturday, authorities confirmed 64 new cases on the bases.

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

A 62-year-old inmate died of coronavirus Sunday at the San Quentin Prison in Northern California, marking the facility's 17th death from the virus.

Johnny Avila Jr. died in the morning at an outside hospital from what appears to be coronavirus complications, said the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (CDRC). A coroner will determine the exact cause of his death.

Avila was put on death row in March 1995 after being convicted of two counts of first degree murder. He was sentenced to death in Fresno in March 1996.

Prison outbreak: San Quentin is the site of the worst coronavirus outbreak in California's prison system, with 2,155 inmates in total who have tested positive. At least 90 people tested positive in the past two weeks alone.

The outbreak and the deaths have prompted criticism from prison reform advocates.

Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted that prisoners "should not have been transferred" from the California Institution for Men in Chino to San Quentin, as they spread the virus to the facility.