At least 13,409,341 people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 578,228 people have died, a Reuters tally showed.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

The World Health Organization referred to the outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

At least 3,449,710 cases of the highly contagious novel coronavirus have been reported in the United States and its territories while at least 136,367 people have died, according to a Reuters tally of state and local government sources as of July 15, 2020, 01:14 PM. The US diagnosed its first COVID-19 case in Washington state on January 20.

Likewise, Brazil follows the US with a total of 3,449,710 coronavirus cases with 74,133 death, according to Reuters’ interactive graphic tracking the global spread.

Likewise, India has the third-highest 936,181 coronavirus cases while 24,309 people have died.

Meanwhile, Alabama, Florida and North Carolina in the United States reported record daily increases in deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, while the Federal Reserve said the US economy would recover more slowly than expected.

ASIA-PACIFIC

— Tokyo is considering raising its alert for coronavirus infections to the highest of four levels, officials said, after a spike in cases to record numbers in the Japanese capital.

— New Zealand must prepare for new outbreaks as the pandemic spreads globally but will not drop its elimination strategy if community transmission was discovered, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. — Australian states tightened restrictions on movement as authorities struggle to contain a fresh outbreak in the country's southeast.

EUROPE

— France will make it compulsory for people to wear masks in shops and other enclosed public spaces from next month.

— Spain's populous Catalonia region made a fresh attempt to put an area of 160,000 people under lockdown to stem the latest local coronavirus surge.

AMERICAS

— US President Donald Trump lambasted California's two largest school districts for making students learn from home for the upcoming term in the face of the resurgent pandemic.

— Canada said it would make it easier for foreign students to study online from abroad and to qualify for a work permit after graduation amid strict border closures.

— Mexico proposed to the US an extension to a ban on non-essential travel by land over their shared border for another 30 days.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

— Egypt has started offering reusable cotton face masks at around 50 cents each alongside the food items provided in its state subsidy programme.

— Afghanistan faces "catastrophe" as growing COVID-19 cases stretch a health infrastructure already severely weakened by decades of war, the Afghan Red Crescent Society said.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

— Moderna Inc's experimental COVID-19 vaccine showed it was safe and provoked immune responses in all 45 healthy volunteers in an ongoing early-stage study.

— Indian pharmaceutical company Zydus said it had started human studies for its potential COVID-19 vaccine, as infections continue to surge in the world's third worst-hit nation.

— Life sciences company IQVIA Holdings Inc said it would collaborate with AstraZeneca Plc to speed up clinical studies of the British drugmaker's potential COVID-19 vaccine in the US

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

— Three of the largest US banks set aside a whopping $28 billion for loan losses, in a stark reminder that much of the economic pain from the pandemic is still to come.

— Japanese manufacturers remained close to the most pessimistic they have been in 11 years in July as the outbreak hits global demand and deals a punishing blow to the export-reliant economy, the Reuters tankan survey showed.

— Britain's economy stumbled out of its coronavirus-induced slump in May, dashing hopes of a swift rebound as government budget forecasters said it was on course for its worst year since pre-industrial times.

— Economic activity in Brazil began to grow again in monthly terms in May, after two sharp consecutive declines in March and April.