More than 68,000 new coronavirus cases in the US in 24 hours

Hong Kong on Friday reported 123 additional Covid-19 cases in the highest single-day increase since the pandemic began, according to health officials in the city. 

Of the new cases, 115 were locally transmitted, according to Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan of Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection. She added “roughly half of the cases could not be traced.” 

“We are seeing more and more cases in the past few days, the trend is still increasing,” said Chuang, warning that the city’s testing capacity, quarantine facilities and hospital capacity are reaching the limit.

Chuang urged people to stay at home for the next one to two weeks when possible. 

Hong Kong also reported one additional coronavirus related death on Friday bringing the city-wide death toll to 16. Hong Kong has recorded 1,105 new coronavirus since the “third wave” of infections began on July 6. In total, the city has reported 2,372 cases of Covid-19. 

In one month, the number of cases in the three states that make up the South Region of Brazil has tripled.

On June 23, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul had registered 55,961 confirmed cases of Covid-19. That number spiked to 172,556 cases on July 22. 

Paraná state alone has jumped from 15,853 to 59,972 coronavirus cases in 30 days. The state's intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy is now at 66%. Despite reaching 15,064 cases, the capital Curitiba relaxed restrictions on Tuesday, allowing for the opening of gyms and other non-essential shops, with limited opening hours.

According to the interim Minister of Health Eduardo Pazuello, who had been visiting the region in the past two days, the curve of accumulated cases began to rise at the turn of April to May, when each state had an average of 1,000 cases.

Brazil's interim Health Minister, Eduardo Pazuello, looks on during a ceremony at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on July 15. Andressa Anholete/Getty Images

Today, all three states each have more than 50,000 infected. 

Brazil running low on medicine: In addition, the region has been suffering from a serious shortage of basic medication used in ICUs, such as painkillers and anesthesia. Pazuello said this mirrored what was happening in other parts of Brazil.

Pazuello said the country is unable to maintain a sufficient stock of medicines for 30 days and that "we are mapping the regions where the medicines are running out to send batches before they run out of supply," he said.

President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at the White House in Washington, DC on July 23. Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Sipa USA

President Donald Trump says the country is doing great in a pandemic that just infected its four millionth US victim and is killing 1,000 people a day.

But his claim is based on a brazen confidence trick, requiring Americans to ignore his responsibility for the spike in the southern and western states as he claims credit for the success of northeastern states that suppressed the disease after not heeding his advice to reopen before the virus was under control.

And that might not even be the most outrageous thing the President said at his third briefing in as many days.

The President, after months mocking mask wearing and social distancing guidelines, trawled for credit and claimed he was setting an "example" after deciding to cancel Republican convention events in Covid-battered Florida.

Though deeming the situation too dangerous to hold the quadrennial political showpiece, he nevertheless insisted that it was perfectly safe for children to go back to school full time in a few weeks.

Trump used northeastern states like New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which lowered their infection curve with strict stay-at-home orders, as part of a misleading argument that much of the US was free of the virus. What he didn't say is that those states succeeded because they ignored his calls to reopen.

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From the start, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed America's social and economic inequality in stark relief, by disproportionately infecting and killing people of color, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.

Now, as the country sweats through the thick of what is likely to be another sweltering summer, another invisible threat looms.

This weekend, as a heat wave bakes huge swaths of the country under triple-digit heat indexes, some fear that the collision of Covid-19 and extreme heat could be a dangerous combination.

Extreme heat can threaten anyone, but many of the same groups who are at greatest risk of serious illness from the coronavirus are also the most vulnerable groups to heat exposure.

With indoor gatherings known to facilitate the spread of Covid-19, cities and relief organizations are adjusting how they keep people safe in this new normal.

And with millions across the country out of work and the virus forcing vulnerable people to stay in their homes, experts say the pandemic is compounding the heat risk for those who are already struggling

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers a speech in Beijing, China on July 17. Liu Weibing/Xinhua/Sipa USA

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced a $1 billion loan to Latin America and the Caribbean for Covid-19 vaccine access during a virtual gathering with his Latin American counterparts on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry.

During a daily briefing on Thursday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador thanked China after the loan announcement.

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Home-made cloth face masks likely need a minimum of two layers, and preferably three, to prevent the dispersal of viral droplets from the nose and mouth that are associated with the spread of Covid-19, indicates a video case study published online in the journal Thorax.

Viral droplets are generated during coughing, sneezing, or speaking. Face masks are thought to protect healthy people from inhaling those infectious droplets as well as reducing the spread from those who are already infected.

Researchers used a tailored LED lighting system and a high-speed camera to film the dispersal of airborne droplets produced by a healthy person with no respiratory infection, during speaking, coughing, and sneezing while wearing each type of mask.

Watch here:

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Workers are building a stand outside the Red Fort in preparation for the 73rd Independence Day in Delhi, India on July 15. Manish Rajput/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

India’s upcoming Independence Day celebrations will be pared down this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

An advisory issued by the Home Ministry to state officials today laid out guidelines on social distancing, the wearing of masks and sanitization. It also called for officials to avoid large congregations on August 15 when the former British colony celebrates its 73rd year of independence. 

Instead, the Home Ministry encouraged events to be streamed online.

The ceremony at the historic Red Fort in the capital New Delhi will be limited to the Prime Minister’s speech, a 21-gun salute, the unfurling of the flag, singing the national anthem and the release of balloons. 

Hundreds of dignitaries and school children usually attend at the Red Fort event each year.

The United States reported 68,663 new coronavirus infections and 1,114 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.

It is the third day in a row that there has been more than 1,000 Covid-19-related deaths in a 24-hour period in the US.

In total, there are at least 4,038,748 cases of coronavirus in the US. The confirmed death toll stands at 144,304 people.

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

For regular updates, follow CNN’s map which refreshes every 15 mins: 

Japan recorded its highest daily coronavirus infection count on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health, as the country battles a new wave of cases.

The Health Ministry reported 981 new Covid-19 infections and two deaths for the whole of Japan on Thursday.

The new cases come after several prefectures with large cities posted their highest daily coronavirus numbers on Thursday, including the capital Tokyo.

To date, the total number of domestic infections in Japan stands at 27,956.