Italy sounded the alarm over the rise in coronavirus cases in fellow European countries after a spike in the number of infections discovered among returning Italian holidaymakers.
"Not to worry (about new cases from abroad) would be unconscionable," Health Minister Roberto Speranza told the Corriere della Sera daily, which noted: "France, Spain and the Balkans... Italy is surrounded by contagions".
Fear over new outbreaks imported by returning holidaymakers has been fuelled by the much-publicised case of 30 young Italians from the Veneto region who visited in Croatia and returned with coronavirus at the start of August.
Italy is closed to Balkan nationals and people arriving from Romania and Bulgaria are obliged to do 14 days quarantine.
Though the first European country to be hit hard by the virus back in February, it has since reaped the rewards of a strict nationwide lockdown and social distancing policy.
Yesterday, it reported two deaths from the virus, however case numbers are rising with 463 new infections reported over a 24-hour period.
But that is a markedly better performance than that of Spain - which leads the way in the number of new infections recorded over the past two weeks, followed by Romania, France, Germany, Britain and Poland.
Australia borders to stay shut as Covid-19 daily deaths reach record
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said internal border closures were unlikely to lift before Christmas, as the country reported a record single-day rise in Covid-19 deaths.
There was, however, some evidence that drastic lockdown measures in the city of Melbourne were having an effect, with daily new infections in the state of Victoria slowing to a near two-week low.
"I am more hopeful of that today than I was in the course of the past week," Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra, as he called on state leaders to cooperate to allow stranded residents to return home.
Australia's federal political system has led to its eight states and territories taking different measures in response to the crisis, resulting in several internal border closures.
Victoria state, which is home to Melbourne, the country's second biggest city and the epicentre of its second coronavirus wave, reported 19 people had died from the virus over the past 24 hours.
With some other states still to report daily new case and death numbers, that already marks the country's biggest single day rise in fatalities.
However, Victoria officials also reported 322 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest single day rise in new infections since 29 July.
Melbourne, home to nearly five million people, has been in lockdown since early July, with people largely confined to their homes and business shuttered.
State Premier Daniel Andrews said he understood frustrations, but declined to put an end date on the lockdown.
"If I could paint you a picture that had any kind of reliability for next week, let alone five weeks away, then, of course, I would," Mr Andrews said during a press conference.
With around 21,000 Covid-19 cases and 314 deaths, Australia has still recorded fewer infections and fatalities than many other developed nations.
It was considered a global leader early in the pandemic, when it was swift to close its international border, impose social distancing restrictions and implement mass virus testing.
But as the country began to reopen, community transmissions rose significantly in Victoria, where triple digit daily new cases have now been recorded for weeks.
Authorities worry the spike in cases in Victoria has already spread to other states despite borders border closures.
Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, reported 14 new cases, and no deaths, today.
Twelve cases were linked to known clusters, while another was a person in hotel quarantine after returning from overseas, leaving one case with no known links.
Brazil cases rise by over 22k
Brazil on Monday registered 22,408 new cases of coronavirus and 703 deaths, the health ministry said.
Overall, Brazil now has 3,057,470 confirmed cases, while the death toll has risen to 101,752.
US records five millions coronavirus cases
The United States has recorded five million coronavirus and nearly 163,000 deaths, by far the highest of any country, ahead of Brazil, which on Saturday became the second country to pass 100,000 deaths.
The global death toll is at least 727,288 since the novel coronavirus emerged in China last December, according to a running tally from official sources compiled by AFP.
Nearly 20 million cases have been registered worldwide, probably reflecting only a fraction of the actual number of infections.
As around much of the globe, the small African country of Malawi has imposed tight social restrictions to try to contain the disease, shutting all bars and churches, while hot weekend weather drew crowds in Europe to the beach.
In Washington, the new virus relief package announced by US President Donald Trump on Saturday after talks between Republican and Democrat politicians hit a wall, was "absurdly unconstitutional," senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi told CNN.
Fellow Democrat and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, appearing on ABC, dismissed Mr Trump's unilateral measures as "unworkable, weak and far too narrow".
But with the nation's economy still struggling to dig itself out of an enormous hole, Democrats appeared skittish about any legal challenge to a relief package they see as seriously inadequate.
The four executive orders Mr Trump signed at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, will, among other things, defer payroll taxes and provide some temporary unemployment benefits.
Last night, he blamed what he called Democratic stubbornness for his being forced to take executive action.
"The Democrats were unwilling to do anything," Mr Trump told reporters as he boarded Air Force One to return to Washington.
"It was time to act," he said. "We have to get money out to the people."
His Democratic opponent in the presidential election, Joe Biden, tweeted that five million coronavirus cases was "a number that boggles the mind and breaks the heart".
"It shouldn't have gotten this bad," he said.
The US yesterday added 47,197 new cases in 24 hours, with 532 additional deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, thousands of bikers converged on a town in South Dakota for what is billed as the largest motorcycle gathering in the world.
In past years, the ten-day rally in Sturgis has drawn hundreds of thousands of bikers to socialise, drink and party together, raising fears among some locals that this year's version could be a super spreader event.
Elsewhere, growing infections in and around Paris prompted French officials to make face masks compulsory outdoors in crowded areas and tourist hotspots in the city and surrounding areas from today.
The mask will be obligatory for all those aged 11 and over in "very crowded zones", said a police statement, including the banks of the Seine River and more than 100 streets in the French capital.
As temperatures soared across western Europe, holidaymakers crowded beaches at the weekend despite warnings about the risk of infection.
Local authorities in Germany warned that some beaches and lakes would be closed if there were too many people.
Around 5,000 people demonstrated in Vienna for increased financial support for nightlife and relaxing coronavirus regulations.
