At least 24,398,401 people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 828,455 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. 

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

At least 5,839,682 cases of the highly contagious novel coronavirus have been reported in the United States and its territories while at least 179,725 people have died, according to a Reuters tally of state and local government sources as of August 28, 2020, 7:14 am. The US diagnosed its first COVID-19 case in Washington state on January 20.  

Likewise, Brazil follows the US with a total of 3,761,391 coronavirus cases with 118,649 death, according to Reuters’ interactive graphic tracking the global spread.  

Likewise, India has the third-highest 3,310,234 coronavirus cases while 60,472 people have died. 

Total deaths in the United States topped 180,000, with many Midwest states seeing record daily jumps, while several states including Texas, Florida, California and New York will not be heeding to calls to reduce testing of some exposed to the virus.

ASIA-PACIFIC

— South Korean authorities stopped short of shifting the country up to the highest level of social distancing measures, despite recording another triple-digit increase in daily new infections.

— India reported a record daily jump of 77,266 infections, taking its total to 3.39 million. The country has reported the highest single-day caseload in the world every day since Aug. 7, a Reuters tally showed.

— Australia's second most populous state - the epicentre of the country's latest COVID-19 outbreak - said it expects to soon report just double-digit daily rises in new infections, as a stringent lockdown slows the spread of the virus.

EUROPE

— Britain said it will back three nationwide COVID-19 studies with 8.4 million pounds ($11 million) to fund research into understanding human immune responses to the novel coronavirus.

— Poland will shorten its quarantine period for those suspected of being infected to 10 days from 14 days.

AMERICAS

— Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota recorded their biggest daily increases in new infections and the country is bracing for the possibility of another surge in infections after schools open.

— Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey and New York all plan to continue to test asymptomatic people who have been exposed to COVID-19, despite new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggesting that such tests may not be needed.

— A telephone call on economic relief between US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and an adviser to President Donald Trump ended with no breakthrough.

— A Reuters tally showed novel coronavirus cases passing the 7-million-mark in Latin America, the region with the most infections in the world.

— Havana's governor announced an overnight curfew, ban on travel from the Cuban capital to other provinces and greater restrictions on the circulation of vehicles to curb a new peak in infections.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

— Gambia extended by 21 days a state of emergency in mainland Africa's smallest nation as infections surged.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

— Abbott Laboratories said it won US marketing authorization for a coronavirus portable antigen test that can deliver results within 15 minutes and will sell for $5.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

— Longer-dated Treasury yields and the dollar rose after the US Federal Reserve shifted its policy framework to place more emphasis on boosting economic growth and less on worries about letting inflation run too high.

— Switzerland's economy shrank by 8.2% in the second quarter compared with the first three months of the year, as the pandemic triggered the worst quarterly downturn in 40 years.

— Mexico's economy in the second quarter contracted the most since the Great Depression, despite a partial recovery in June.

— Finns should not be lulled into thinking their economy will not be damaged by the coronavirus crisis, Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn said.