The World Health Organization recorded the largest single-day increase of global coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic on Saturday.
Member states reported more than 212,000 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the global body with most cases coming from the Americas, including the United States and Brazil.
The US has recently been reporting record rises in daily case numbers, with around 2.8 million cases total or roughly a quarter of the world’s total cases. Brazil meanwhile has around 1.5 million cases.
Public health officials have urged Americans to avoid large crowds this weekend amid the country’s Fourth of July holiday.
Latin America and the Caribbean also passed Europe in their number of coronavirus cases – with more than 2.7 million infections.
WHO stops hydroxychloroquine trials
Meanwhile, the WHO announced that they would end a trial testing hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for coronavirus.
The antimalarial drug is typically used to treat illnesses such as Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
It had been hyped worldwide as a COVID-19 treatment when French doctor Didier Raoult said he was treating patients in Marseille with the drug and an antibiotic. A study he published was however dismissed due to its small size and lack of control group.
In mid-June, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agency retracted emergency permission to use hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the coronavirus, saying it is unlikely to be effective.
The World Health Organization also will end trial of lopinavir/ritonavir, a drug combination used to treat HIV/AIDS.
WHO says a review of the interim results showed hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir “produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalised COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care.”