Grim New Death Tolls for US, Globe

The number of people around the world who have died as a result of the coronavirus has passed the 600,000 mark as countries from the US to South Africa to India struggle to contain infections, the AP reports. Hong Kong also warned of a resurgence in the virus as it issued tougher new rules on the wearing of face masks. Concerns are rising that the pandemic has found fresh legs over the past few weeks, with Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization both recording daily highs in newly reported infections. Pope Francis said that "the pandemic is showing no sign of stopping" and pointed to those whose suffering from the outbreak is worsened by conflicts. For more:

• While the US leads global infections, South Africa now ranks as the fifth worst-hit country in the pandemic with more than 350,000 cases, or around half of all those confirmed on the continent. Its struggles are a sign of potential trouble to come for nations with even fewer health care resources.
• India, which has now confirmed more than a million infections, on Sunday reported a 24-hour record surge of 38,902 new cases.
• In Europe, where infections are far from their peak in the spring but local outbreaks are causing concern, leaders of the 27-nation European Union haggled for a third day in Brussels over a proposed $2.1 trillion EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund.
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is "a lot of good will, but there are also a lot of positions" in the talks, which have have laid bare the fissures in the bloc about how the countries hit hardest by the pandemic, such as Italy and Spain, should be helped and under what conditions. She said the talks, which were initially scheduled to end on Saturday, could still end without a deal.
• Confirmed global deaths from or with COVID-19 rose to more than 602,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins. The US tops the list with over 140,000, followed by more than 78,000 in Brazil, 45,000 in the UK, and 38,000 in Mexico.
• The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.2 million, with 3.7 million accounted for by the US alone. Brazil has witnessed more than 2 million while India has recorded over 1 million.

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