Global cases of the coronavirus have now topped 20 million, even as many regions struggle to ramp up testing to capture the true scale of the global outbreak.
In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would delay the general election process after the country reported its first cases on Tuesday, after 102 days without any local transmissions.
In the U.S., daily new cases appear to be decreasing, though testing in several large states, including Texas, has also fallen, which could complicate the data. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday the country has approved the world’s first vaccine, though researchers have not released any safety and efficacy data on the drug.
Here are some of the biggest developments Tuesday:
The following data was compiled by Johns Hopkins University:
- Global cases: More than 20.1 million
- Global deaths: At least 738,910
- Countries with the most cases: United States (more than 5.1 million); Brazil (more than 3 million); India (more than 2.2 million); Russia (at least 895,691) and South Africa (at least 566,109)
