Covid-19 cases around the world increased by a record 183,020 in the latest 24-hour period, the World Health Organisation says. The biggest increase was from North and South America with over 116,000 new cases, according to a daily report. Brazil today has a total of 1,085,038 confirmed cases and 50,617 deaths, up from 49,976 the previous day, the Health Ministry said. Chancellor Angela Merkel had favoured maintaining lockdown measures for longer but gradually eased restrictions in recent weeks following pressure from regional politicians to reboot the economy. But the government has been cautious, saying it did not want to risk a second spike in novel coronavirus cases.

Source: Otago Daily Times June 22, 2020 01:30 UTC