In charts: The countries where Covid-19 is on the rise
More than 10m cases of Covid-19 have now been reported across the world, and cases are back on the rise in regions which face the prospect of renewed local lockdowns.
Over the past week, the number of new cases reported each day has been above 150,000, and 60 per cent of all cases have been reported in the last month.
Cases are rising in multiple American states, and 300,000 people in Melbourne have been issued stay at home orders after a resurgence of the virus.
While cases are in decline across much of Europe, the virus' grip on countries across the world is tightening and showing no signs of slowing down.
Covid surges
According to the latest data, countries where Covid-19 cases are on the rise include the United States, South Africa, Colombia and the Palestinian territories.
The rate of new cases in South Africa is approaching the same level as the United States, with 114 cases per million people, on average, in the week to June 1.
Across the USA the average rate of daily new cases has now reached 131 per million - surpassing its previous peak of 96.
In Palestine, the rate of new daily cases has doubled in little more than a week, from 19 per million to 42 per million.
“Flare-ups are to be expected as countries start to lift restrictions,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation on Wednesday.
“But countries that have the systems in place to apply a comprehensive approach should be able to contain these flare-ups locally and avoid reintroducing widespread restrictions.
“However, we are concerned that some countries have not used all the tools at their disposal and have taken a fragmented approach.
“These countries face a long, hard road ahead.
“But one of the lessons of the pandemic is that no matter what situation a country is in, it can be turned around. It’s never too late.”
The pandemic is continuing to rise across the Americas and Asia, with worrying trends emerging in Africa.
North America accounted for 30 per cent of all new Covid-19 cases on June 30, with 25 per cent in South America and 27 per cent in Asia.
After being declared the epicentre of the virus in March, cases have trailed off in Europe, which now accounts for fewer than one in ten new cases across the globe.
'A dangerous turn'
The second wave emerging in the US is not being driven by outbreaks in all of the nation's 50 states, however.
Some - most notably New York - have seen infections drop off compared to the huge peaks of March and April.
The state was seeing over 10,000 new cases per day at the pandemic's peak, but is now down to 600 daily infections.
Instead Florida, Texas and California are among a new group of states facing the brunt of the pandemic, as over three quarters of states still face a week-on-week increase in the number of new Covid-19 infections.
These three states alone accounted for nearly half of the US's quarter of a million cases confirmed last week.
Renewed infections has forced several governors to back out of an initial easing of lockdown measures.
Texas governor Greg Abbott, who previously ordered bars in the state to reopen, warned on Monday that America's experience of the global pandemic was taking a "'very swift and very dangerous turn".
A total of 39 states have seen week on week rises in new daily cases.
Down under
Across the Pacific, Australian health officials are grappling with a surge in cases in Melbourne, with authorities issuing stay at home orders in 36 suburbs across ten postcodes in the city today.
Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews has blamed extended family gatherings and violations of hotel quarantines for the region's alarming spike in new infections, which totaled over 250 last week.
This contrasts with the situation in Australia's other provinces, including New South Wales, home of Sydney, which has seen its previously dramatic infection rate level off.
The province saw just 33 new cases last week, compared to around 1,122 in the last week of March, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.
