PARIS, France — The global number of coronavirus cases crossed 16 million on Sunday, more than half of them in the Americas and the Caribbean.

The 16,050,223 cases include 645,184 fatalities with the United States the worst hit country, registering 4,178,021 infections and 146,460 dead.

Latin America and the Caribbean have recorded 4,328,915 cases and 182,501 dead followed by Europe on 3,052,108 cases and 207,734 dead.

The spread of the pandemic continues to accelerate and more than five million cases have been declared since July, which represents a third of the total number of cases since the pandemic began.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than a million cases had been recorded in each of the last five weeks, with over 280,000 being reported on July 24 alone.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Belgium with 85 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Britain with 67, Spain 61, Italy 58, and Sweden 56.

The spiraling numbers are particularly worrying because the tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the WHO, probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases while others still have limited testing capacity.

There were more than 280,000 new cases recorded globally on both Thursday and Friday, the highest daily rises since the virus emerged in China late last year, according to an AFP count based on official sources – an alarming uptick in the spread of the virus.

Nearly a third of the world’s 15.8 million infections have been registered since July 1, while the total death toll nears 640,000.

The World Health Organization said more than a million cases had been
recorded in each of the last five weeks, “with over 280,000 being reported on July 24 alone.”

“While no country is unaffected, this rise is driven by high transmission in large and populous countries in the Americas and South Asia,” it said in a statement on Saturday.

Brazil and India had recently reported their highest daily increases, it added, while the figures remained worryingly high in the United States and South Africa – where Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel tested positive for the virus Saturday.

The US, still the hardest-hit nation, on Friday reported its second straight day of more than 70,000 new cases and over 1,000 deaths as the virus surges in the south and west.

As governments worldwide struggle to contain the virus despite long and
economically crippling lockdowns imposed on millions of people, a new survey suggested that faith in authorities is dwindling in six rich nations.

Populations in France, Germany, Britain, Japan, Sweden, and the US widely believed death and infection figures to be higher than recorded, according to the study, which polled 1,000 people in each nation.

“In most countries this month, support for national governments is falling,” said the report by the Kekst CNC communications consultancy.

One world leader widely criticized over his handling of the pandemic is Brazil’s Bolsonaro, who was diagnosed with coronavirus on July 7.

Bolsonaro, who has downplayed what he calls “a little flu,” announced
on Twitter Saturday that he had finally tested negative.

200 million vaccines by June SK Bioscience, the South Korean pharmaceutical company backed by Bill Gates, may be capable of producing 200 million coronavirus vaccine kits by next June, the Microsoft Corp. co-founder said in a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Gates is seeking to cooperate closely with South Korea, the presidential office in Seoul said Sunday, citing the July 20 letter.

The US billionaire and Moon spoke by phone in April about teaming up to fight the virus and develop a vaccine, the Blue House said.

The world is in a race to develop a vaccine that could protect masses against a virus that has wreaked havoc on the global economy. Gates has said investment in factories across the world can ensure regions beyond the US won’t be left behind in the rush for Covid-19 vaccines.

Fresh clusters

Fresh clusters, meanwhile, were emerging across Asia.

South Korea on Saturday reported its highest infections figure in nearly four months, while Vietnam recorded its first locally transmitted case in nearly 100 days.

Officials in China said they would introduce fresh measures and testing in the port city of Dalian, home to about six million people, after detecting fresh infections thee.

Europe remains the hardest-hit continent, accounting for a fifth of the world’s case count.

Belgium said Saturday it could further tighten its restrictions following the death of a three-year-old girl, the country’s youngest victim of the virus.

Recent outbreaks in the Spanish regions of Aragon and Catalonia have led to fresh curbs on daily life.

In France, where infections have been rising, Prime Minister Jean Castex
announced on-the-spot testing for travelers arriving from 16 high-risk
nations.

But he told Nice Matin newspaper he wanted above all else to avoid returning to a full lockdown because of the economic damage it did – and the psychological harm that many people suffered.

Britain, meanwhile, has made it compulsory to wear a face covering in shopping centers, banks, takeaway outlets, sandwich shops and supermarkets.

And it announced Saturday it was reimposing two weeks of self-isolation on travelers arriving from Spain after a surge in cases there. (With a report from Bloomberg)