India's coronavirus cases surpass 1.5 million

Health workers collect swab samples of people from inside a new Covid-19 testing kiosk in Kolkata, India, on Monday, July 28. Jit Chattopadhyay/Pacific Press/LightRocket/Getty Images

India's total number of coronavirus cases surged past 1.5 million on Wednesday, according to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

India hit a million cases of coronavirus on July 17, six months after its first infection was discovered on January 30. Since then, it took just 12 days to record another half a million cases.

As of Wednesday, India has reported a total of 1,531,669 cases -- the third highest in the world, after the United States and Brazil. The total includes 34,193 deaths.

The country had conducted 17,743,740 coronavirus tests as of July 28. It currently has 509,447 active Covid-19 cases.

Recovered patients: Some 988,029 people have recovered from the virus, according to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

In India, patients with mild and moderate symptoms are considered no longer active after 10 days of symptom onset if they meet certain conditions.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.

At least 61,660 new coronavirus infections and 1,244 virus-related deaths were confirmed in the United States on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The US' cumulative case count now stands at 4,351,997, including 149,256 fatalities, according to JHU.

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:

Japan's Ministry of Health recorded 981 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday -- the highest daily increase in the country since the pandemic began.

Previously, the country's highest daily spike was 966 cases, recorded on July 23.

The total number of infections reported in Japan now stands at 32,613, with 1,014 deaths.

Osaka and Aichi prefectures recorded their own highest daily infections on Tuesday. Osaka recorded 155 cases while Aichi confirmed 110 infections.

CNN is tracking worldwide coronavirus cases here:

The United States was slow in recognizing the coronavirus threat from Europe, Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted for the first time Tuesday in an interview with ABC News.

The US restricted travel from China on February 2 and from Europe on March 13, but by March 8, Covid-19 was already circulating among the community in New York City and, by March 15, community transmission of the virus was already widespread, a recent analysis from the CDC found.

By the time the Trump administration banned travelers from Europe, the virus was already spreading in New York City, according to the report. Testing was also limited at the start of the epidemic there, allowing people with undetected cases to spread the virus.

Read the full story:

A security officer sets up barricades in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Tuesday, July 28. Trinh Quoc Dung/VNA via AP

Vietnam has confirmed eight new Covid-19 infections in the resort city of Da Nang, according to Chinhphu, the official government newspaper.

The new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in Vietnam to 446, while the death toll remains at zero. Da Nang has recorded 29 new infections over the past five days.

Over 16,000 people who are either close contacts of confirmed cases in Da Nang or have entered “pandemic hit areas” have been placed under medical surveillance. Among them, 12,996 people have been placed in centralized quarantine camps, Chinhphu reported. 

On Monday, 80,000 tourists were ordered to leave Da Nang, after a new outbreak hit the city following around 100 days of no local transmissions. 

Ambulances are seen lined up the Epping Gardens Aged Care Home on July 29, in Melbourne. Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The Australian state of Victoria recorded 295 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, state Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday.

Victoria also recorded nine new coronavirus deaths, bringing the statewide death toll to 92. The 295 new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 9,304.

Andrews also announced that 18,077 people were tested on Tuesday, bringing the total number of tests conducted in Victoria to 1,554,705.

Victoria police said they fined 103 individuals who breached the chief health officer's directions over the past 24 hours, including three people fined for gathering to celebrate a birthday. 

Victoria’s new numbers come as the state of Queensland announced it would close its borders to Greater Sydney starting on Saturday in order to curb the spread of the virus. New South Wales, the state Sydney is located in, reported 19 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.

A Uyghur man is tested at a temperature checkpoint on June 29, in Kuqa, a city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.  David Liu/Getty Images

China recorded 101 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest single-day increase since early April, according to numbers released by the National Health Commission on Wednesday.

Among the new cases, 98 were locally transmitted, including 89 in the far western region of Xinjiang where a fresh outbreak has emerged this month. One local infection was also found in Beijing, and the remaining local cases were found in Liaoning.

On Tuesday, China also recorded a further 27 asymptomatic infections, which are not included in the tally of confirmed cases. 

This is the first time China has reported more than 100 new infections in a single day since April 12, when the country reported 108 new cases -- most of which were imported.

It is the third consecutive day China has reported the highest daily spike in local infections since early March.

Pharmaceutical biochemists process Covd-19 tests at a laboratory at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi (UASLP) Research Center in Health Sciences and Biomedicine in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, on Friday, July 24. Mauricio Palos/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Mexico surpassed 400,000 coronavirus cases Tuesday after its health ministry recorded 7,208 new cases.  

The country has now reported a total of 402,697 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

The ministry also added 854 new fatalities from coronavirus Tuesday, bringing Mexico's death toll to 44,876.

White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx on Tuesday provided some dire warnings for states that are in the task force-defined "yellow zone" for cases and test positivity, which she said are different from outbreaks across the country earlier this year. 

On a call Tuesday with Vice President Mike Pence and several governors, she said there has been “significant improvement” in "red zone" states Florida, California, Texas, and Arizona following orders to close bars, decrease indoor dining, and require the use of masks. The task force defines its "red zone" states as more than 100 cases per 100,000 people and more than 10% test positivity. 

But she said there are still rising cases and test positivity in other "red zone" states: Mississippi, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, Georgia, Idaho, and Arkansas. 

Birx said "yellow zone" states, which the task force defines as having between 10 and 100 cases per 100,000 and 5-10% test positivity, have had a similar profile to "red zone" states: “Starting with the 20 to 30 year-olds presenting as a first wave.” 

She said the task force is working with governors and mayors in the following places: Colorado, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minneapolis, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, Ohio, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

The task force, Birx said, is talking with these places “about increasing mitigation efforts now because if we wait until increased hospitalizations it is really way too late. Because what we are experiencing now is really different than March and April, it’s very different from the outbreaks of May that was typically contained. This widespread community spread in the younger age group both rural and very urban and urban areas so by the time you see it up to 80-90% of your counties already have more than 10%.” 

Birx expressed concern for major metros like Chicago and Philadelphia, as well as California’s Central Valley, and applauded Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s mask mandate, which she said is having a “significant impact.”

Pence reiterated that the administration does not want another closure -- something, he said, “We don’t ever want to see again,” but pointed to studies that show that the use of masks, bar closures, limiting outdoor dining, and limiting social gatherings are having similar effect as sheltering in place earlier this year. He recommended governors in "yellow zone" states “take a hard look” at those four measures “whether it be on a county-by-county basis or a statewide basis.”

“We’ll support your decision, but I think your big message to these states that may be emerging is don’t wait,” Pence said.