Global cases surpass 40 million

Worldwide coronavirus cases crossed 40 million on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, as the onset of winter in the northern hemisphere fuelled a resurgence in the spread of the disease, report agency .
The Reuters tally is based on official reporting by individual countries. Experts believe the true numbers of both cases and deaths are likely much higher, given deficiencies in testing and potential under-reporting by some countries.
The Reuters data shows the pace of the pandemic continues to pick up. It took just 32 days to go from 30 million global cases to 40 million, compared with the 38 days it took to get from 20 to 30 million, the 44 days between 10 and 20 million, and the three months it took to reach 10 million cases from when the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China, in early January. Record one-day increases in new infections were seen at the end of last week, with global coronavirus cases rising above 400,000 for the first time.
There were an average of around 347,000 cases each day over the past week, compared with 292,000 in the first week of October.
The United States, India, and Brazil remain the worst affected countries in the world. COVID-19 cases in North, Central, and South America represent about 47.27 per cent or nearly half of global cases.
Around 247 cases are seen per 10,000 people in the United States. For India and Brazil, those numbers stand at 55 cases and 248 cases per 10,000 people respectively.
New cases are growing at over 150,000 a day in Europe, as many countries including Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic have reported record daily increases in the number of coronavirus infections.
Europe currently accounts for over 17 per cent of the global cases and nearly 22 per cent of the deaths related to the virus worldwide.
Parts of the UK were put into lockdown as Prime Minister Boris Johnson bid to contain a second wave of infections through local measures.
France imposed curfews while other European nations are closing schools, cancelling surgeries, and enlisting student medics.
Another report adds: At least half of India's 1.3 billion people are likely to have been infected with the new coronavirus by next February, helping slow the spread of the disease, a member of a federal government committee tasked with providing projections said on Monday.
India has so far reported 7.55 million cases of the coronavirus and is second only to the United States in terms of total infections.
Another report adds: More than half of COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital still experienced symptoms of breathlessness, fatigue, anxiety and depression for two to three months after their initial infection, according to the findings of a small UK study.
The research, led by scientists at Britain's Oxford University, looked at the long-term impact of COVID-19 in 58 patients hospitalised with the pandemic disease.