The United States set a one-day record for new coronavirus cases yesterday with at least 102,591 new infections as hospitals in several states reported a rising tide of patients, according to a Reuters tally.
Nine states reported record one-day increases in cases: Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.
The country reported 1,112 deaths, one day after Americans voted to choose their next president.
In addition to rising cases, on Tuesday hospitalisations topped 50,000 for the first time in three months.
North Dakota reported only six free intensive care unit beds in the entire state yesterday, when it was one of 14 states that reported record levels of hospitalised Covid-19 patients.
More than 9.4 million people have been infected and 233,000 have died in the US so far during the pandemic, by far the worst tolls in absolute terms globally.
Cases have been surging to record highs across the country since mid-October, especially in the north and the midwest.
Health officials in some states have already sounded warnings about their ability to handle an influx in hospitalisations as the winter flu season looms.
The pandemic has also slammed the US economy, fuelling a historic contraction in growth and tens of millions of job losses.
It also impacted the US election, with more than 100 million voters casting their ballot by mail or in person before Election Day on Tuesday, the highest number of early voters ever.
The final election results are not yet known, with the count partly delayed by the high number of mail-in ballots as many Americans sought to avoid crowded polling booths.
US President Donald Trump, who was briefly hospitalised for Covid-19 in October, has consistently downplayed the seriousness of the outbreak, insisting that the virus will eventually just "disappear".
His Democratic election rival Joe Biden has sought to turn the vote into a referendum on Mr Trump's handling of the crisis, and vowed to listen to scientific recommendations on handling the pandemic should he take the White House.
Greek PM orders nationwide lockdown
Greece has ordered a nationwide lockdown for three weeks to help contain a resurgence of Covid-19 cases.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the new restrictionswill come into effect on 7 Saturday.
"I've chosen to take drastic measures sooner rather than later," Mr Mitsotakis said.
The country has reported fewer cases than most in Europe mainly due to an early nationwide lockdown that it imposed when the pandemic broke out in February. It started unwinding restrictions in May.
But since early October it has seen a surge in infections and has been reimposing curbs.
Greece registered 2,646 infections yesterday, the highest daily tally since its first case surfaced, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 46,892. So far, 673 people have died of the disease.
Norway imposes new restrictions to limit virus spread
Prime Minister Erna Solberg has told Norwegians to avoid travelling domestically and instead stay a thome as much as possible as part of a new round of recommendations and restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
The number of cases has risen in many parts of Norway, hitting a record last week in a country which long had one o fEurope's lowest rate of infections.
"We now see a sharp increase in the number of people testing positive. The situation is very serious, and...we don't have time to wait and see if the measures we introduced last week are enough," Ms Solberg told parliament.
Last week, Norway tightened restrictions on gatherings and foreign workers entering the country after a rise in infections.
Now, Norwegians are urged to stay at home as much as possible in the coming weeks and to limit their social interactions, and bars across the country now have to close at midnight.
Norway recorded a revised 3,118 new COVID-19 cases last week, up from 1,718 the week before - both higher than the previous peak of 1,733 cases posted in the week March 16-22, according to data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Paris facing further restrictions as case numbers worsen
Paris will be placed under more restrictions to curb the worsening Covid-19 pandemic, including a requirement for more shops to close in the evening, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told BFM TV today.
Ms Hidalgo said this would entail shutting down certain shops selling takeaway food and drink at 10pm local time, which would come on top of the existing national lockdown that has been imposed throughout France.
President Emmanuel Macron imposed a new lockdown last month,forcing non-essential shops, such as those not selling basic foods or medicines, to close, and making people use signed documents to justify being out on the streets.
Nevertheless, French authorities believed more measures were needed in Paris as they felt there were still too many people out in the capital late at night, in spite of the lockdown.
Yesterday, France reported 40,558 new Covid-19 cases and a further 385 deaths, taking the country's total death toll from the coronavirus to 38,674.
Elsewhere, the Czech Republic reported 15,729 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily tally since the pandemic started, Health Ministry data showed.
Total cases rose to 378,716 in the country of 10.7 million, which has seen one of Europe's highest infection rates amid a second wave of the pandemic.
The ministry also reported 220 new deaths, including 123 yesterday, along with revisions to previous days, to bring the total to 4,133.
Ukraine also registered a record 9,850 new cases in the past 24 hours, the health minister said, up from a high of 9,524 reported a day earlier.
Total infections stood at 430,467 with 7,924 deaths by today, he said.
India reported a daily jump of 50,210 coronavirus infections, taking its total to 8.36 million, the health ministry said on Thursday.
This was the highest daily jump in cases since 25 October, according to a Reuters tally.
Cases in India have been dipping since hitting a peak in September, but experts warn that the Diwali festival season could lead to a spike.
Deaths rose by 704, with total mortalities now at 124,315,the ministry said.
