The coronavirus pandemic has infected at least 43.2 million people and claimed over 1.1 million lives around the world. Here are updates for October 26:
Australia’s virus hot spot reports zero cases
Australia’s coronavirus hot spot of Victoria has reported zero cases of the new coronavirus for the first time since June, a day after the state delayed the easing of restrictions because of a fresh outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
The five million residents of Melbourne, Victoria’s state capital, have been placed under a hard lockdown since July to contain the spread of the virus, shutting down businesses and restricting people’s movements.
The city was just emerging from a second wave after the lockdown helped bring down daily cases to single digits in recent days from a peak of 700 in early August.
But clusters in five suburbs had sparked fears of a new outbreak.
Australia has so far recorded just over 27,500 Covid-19 infections, far fewer than many other developed countries.
Victoria, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the 905 deaths nationally, did not record any new deaths from the virus in the past 24 hours.
Slovakia’s mass coronavirus testing attracts tens of thousands
Slovakia’s pilot testing in coronavirus hotspots attracted tens of thousands people over the weekend, showing an infection rate of 3.87 percent, government data showed.
The government plans to widen the scope to the whole country next weekend and hopes the antigen tests, along with a partial lockdown, can help curbing a sharp rise in infections.
The tests were administered between Friday and Sunday at around 235 sites in four northern regions that are home to about 180,000 people.
In the regular tests done since the pandemic started, Slovakia reported a record 3,042 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections to 43,843.
Mexico reports 4,360 new cases, 181 more deaths
Mexico’s health ministry has reported 4,360 additional cases of the novel coronavirus and 181 more deaths in the country, bringing the official number of cases to 891,160 and the death toll to 88,924.
Health officials have said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Germany’s confirmed cases rise by 8,685 to 437,866 – RKI
The number of confirmed cases in Germany has increased by 8,685 to 437,866, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.
The reported death toll rose by 24 to 10,056, the tally showed.
India’s infections rise by 45,148
India reported fewer than 46,000 new coronavirus cases, continuing a downward trend, though rising air pollution and the Hindu festival season continue to raise fears of a fresh surge in infections.
The Health Ministry said that 45,148 new cases raised the country’s overall toll to over 7.9 million. The ministry also reported 480 new fatalities, raising the death toll to 119,014.
India is second in the world behind the US in total cases. Last month, the country hit a peak of nearly 100,000 cases in a single day, but since then daily infections have fallen by about half and deaths by about a third.
