After focusing on Europe, Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region over the weekend and into Monday, our focus on Tuesday shifts back to the US, where the number of new infections falls across the Sun Belt, with Arizona, Texas, California and even Florida all seeing single-day tallies of new cases decline.
Yesterday, the US reported roughly 40,000 new cases yesterday, the lowest number in weeks, even as deaths continued to climb at an aggressive pace after passing 170,000.
Source: NYT
Even as deaths show some signs of declining, the US has arrived at its latest milestone in the pandemic: COVID-19 has become the third-worst cause of death in the US, according to the CDC.
The pandemic has now surpassed accidents, injuries, lung disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and many other causes of deaths - even drug overdoses, which are surging again due to the outbreak.
Elsewhere, Germany continued to report an elevated number of new cases, while an outbreak in Hong Kong showed signs of tapering off, though that didn't stop Chief Executive Carrie Lam from imposing a third round of anti-COVID restrictions on Monday.
In South Korea, a flareup continued to grow, with 246 more cases reported Tuesday, and the country banned large gatherings in and around Seoul.
In the UK, England and Wales recorded the fewest fatalities for 20 weeks. Deaths in the week ended Aug. 7 fell 21% to 152 compared with a week earlier, based on figures compiled by the Office for National Statistics
While the UK celebrated its milestone of lower deaths, Germany on Tuesday recorded its highest number of new coronavirus infections in nearly four months, the latest in a string of signs that the country's outbreak is expanding aggressively once again.
There were 1,693 new infections in the 24 hours through Tuesday morning, the most since April 25, bringing Germany's total to 226,700.
