Global coronavirus cases surpass 60 million

Agency: The global tally of confirmed coronavirus cases hit 60 million on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

According to the news agency, the pace of new infections has been accelerating and the United States which reported record numbers of hospitalizations.

Officials in the United States, the worst-affected country in the world, urged Americans to stay home for the imminent Thanksgiving holiday as soaring numbers of COVID-19 patients pushed medical professionals to the brink.

The United States has reported 1 million new COVID-19 cases in less than a week, taking its total reported infections to over 12.5 million. The death toll in the United States has jumped to 260,000, according to the Reuters data based on official statements.

Globally, infections stood at 60.005 million and deaths at 1.4 million.

An analysis of the Reuters data showed the rate of new infections picking up globally.

It took just 17 days to go from 50 million cases to 60 million, compared with the 21 days it took to go from 40 million to 50 million. Around 580,000 cases have been reported each day over the past week and around half of all cases since the start of the pandemic were reported over the past 70 days.