The United States has set a third straight daily record for new Covid-19 infections, notching more than 127,000 cases, John Hopkins University has reported.
And the death toll over the past 24 hours was 1,149, the Baltimore-based university said.
The outbreak has been surging for weeks across the country, with the Midwest worst-hit even as the number of new diagnoses were approaching springtime levels in the south, northeast and west.
While deaths remain far lower than the peak in spring, yesterday was also the fourth day in a row that fatalities were above 1,000.
The last time people were dying of Covid-19 at that rate in the US was early September.
Cases are expected to increase as the country moves into colder weather and people switch to socialising primarily indoors, prime conditions for passing the virus from person to person.
Colder, drier weather might also play a role in creating favourable conditions for the virus to linger in air and on surfaces.
Reasons that deaths are down from their peak include the fact that as cases are more spread out geographically than they were at the start of the US epidemic, hospitals are better able to cope with the caseload.
Doctors have also learned how to better treat severe cases of Covid-19 - by placing patients on their stomachs, avoiding the use of ventilators where possible and using them on low-pressure settings if they are required, and, perhaps most crucially, using steroids such as dexamethasone to tamp down a destructive autoimmune response known as a cytokine storm.
Since a greater proportion of people getting infected are younger, they are also less likely to develop severe forms of the disease.
Two vaccine makers, Moderna and Pfizer, say they might be ready to apply for emergency use authorisations towards the end of the month.
But if and when vaccines do become available, they are only expected to be moderately effective, meaning that people will need to continue to adhere to masking, social distancing and hand hygiene to bring an end to the pandemic.
Australia to allow additional 450 citizens to return before end of 2020
Australia will permit an additional 450 citizens to return to the country before the end of the year, slightly increasing a cap enforced to reduce risks of fresh coronavirus infections being imported, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Australia has since July capped the number of locals allowed to return home each week in an attempt to reduce the threat of spreading Covid-19.
Australia allows 6,315 citizens and permanent residents to return each week.
But with thousands stranded overseas and pressure growing, Mr Morrison said Tasmania state has agreed to provide accommodation for the additional 450 people to undergo quarantine on the island.
Australia’s second Covid-19 outbreak started after people returning from overseas in Victoria state spread the virus to hotel workers while undergoing a mandatory 14-day quarantine, who in turn passed the virus in the community.
After daily cases in the state peaked at more than 700 infections, Victoria placed nearly 5 million people around Melbourne into a stringent lockdown for more than 100 days.
The measures have slowed the spread of the virus and Victoria today reported its eighth straight day without a Covid-19 case.
Australia has recorded just over 27,600 novel coronavirus infections and 907 deaths, far fewer than many other developed countries.
Poland reports record daily increase in coronavirus cases
Poland reported a record 27,875 new daily coronavirus cases, as the total number of reported cases surpassed 500,000 and the country's struggling healthcare system faced supply shortages.
Poland has 20,249 occupied hospital beds out of 30,896 available for Covid-19 patients.
1,813 of its 2,357 ventilators are occupied, health ministry data showed
