WHO: No return to normal as coronavirus cases pass 13 million

The pandemic will get 'worse and worse' if too many countries continue in the wrong direction, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned

Portraits and drawings are displayed on chairs, amid the coronavirus pandemic, during a protest outside the Hamburg plant of European aircraft maker Airbus. AFP

A porter, also known as a coolie, carries a sack of rations,received from a charity truck in Karachi, Pakistan. Reuters

Fortitude, one of the pair of marble lions that sit in front of the New York Public Library's Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street branch in New York, wears a face mask to encourage New Yorkers to continue to follow safety measures in the fight against COVID-19. AFP

Victoria Police officers and healthcare workers congregate outside a public housing tower in North Melbourne, Australia. Nine towers in Flemington and North Melbourne were locked down on Saturday in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. EPA

A worker pastes portraits of healthcare workers created on the facade of the Opera Bastille, at the initiative of the collective #ProtegeTonSoignant to pay tribute to caregivers in first ligne during the Covid-19 epidemic, in Paris. AFP

Dr John Bunge, from Venezuela, poses for a photo before entering the intensive care unit for COVID-19 cases at the private Ricardo Palma hospital in Lima, Peru. AP Photo

A man looks at the front pages of newspapers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AFP

Healthcare workers walk through the Texas Medical Centre during a shift change in Houston. Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wears a protective face mask with the logo of Germany's EU council presidency as she attends a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. Reuters

Feridia Rojas, a retired nurse, wears a cardboard box as a protective measure against the spread of the coronavirus, in Havana. AP Photo

A man wearing a face mask walks past a coronavirus awareness mural in Depok, Indonesia. AP Photo

A Manchester City staffer disinfects the ball prior the English Premier League match between Manchester City and Newcastle at the Ethiad Stadium in Manchester. AP

The number of coronavirus infections around the world hit 13 million on Monday, climbing by a million in just five days.

The pandemic has now killed more than 500,000 people in six-and-a-half months, and World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there would be no return to the "old normal" for the foreseeable future, especially if preventive measures were neglected.

"Let me be blunt, too many countries are headed in the wrong direction, the virus remains public enemy number one," he told a virtual briefing from WHO headquarters in Geneva.

"If basics are not followed, the only way this pandemic is going to go, it is going to get worse and worse and worse. But it does not have to be this way."

Reuters' global tally, which is based on government reports, shows the disease accelerating fastest in Latin America.

The Americas account for more than half of the world’s infections and half the deaths.

Parts of the world, especially the United States with more than 3.3 million confirmed cases, are still seeing huge increases in a first wave of Covid-19 infections, while others "flatten the curve" and ease lockdowns.

Some places, such as the Australian city of Melbourne and Leicester in England, are implementing a second round of shutdowns. Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, albeit with a low 1,522 cases, is to tighten social distancing measures again amid growing worries about a third wave.

The United States reported a daily global record of 69,070 new infections on July 10. In Brazil, 1.86 million people have tested positive, including President Jair Bolsonaro, and more than 72,000 people have died.

The US state of Florida reported a record increase of more than 15,000 new cases in 24 hours on Sunday, more than South Korea's total since the disease was first identified at the end of last year. It tallied another 12,624 new cases on Monday.

Coronavirus infections are rising in about 40 US states, according to a Reuters comparison of the past two weeks and the prior two weeks.

Yet US President Donald Trump and White House officials have repeatedly said the disease is under control and that schools must reopen in the autumn.

"The president and his administration are messing with the health of our children," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on CNN's "State of the Union" programme.

"We all want our children to go back to school, parents do and children do. But they must go back safely."

WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan urged countries not to turn schools into "another political football", saying they could safely reopen once the virus had been suppressed.

The leader of the Spanish region of Catalonia urged residents of an area of 160,000 people where cases have surged to stay at home, despite a judge's ruling throwing out a mandatory lockdown.

Spain, which has been one of the European countries worst hit by the coronavirus, lifted nationwide confinement last month, when the pandemic seemed to have come under control.

After the first cases were reported in China around the new year, it took three months to reach one million cases. But it has taken just five days to climb to 13 million cases from 12 million.

India, the country with the third-highest number of infections, has been contending with an average of 23,000 new infections each day since the beginning of July.

In countries with limited testing capacity, case numbers reflect a smaller proportion of total infections. Experts say official data probably under-represents both infections and deaths.