The World Health Organization recorded on Saturday a new record increase, and for the second day in a row, the number of coronavirus infections worldwide reached 259 thousand and 848 cases during the past 24 hours.
The organization's daily report showed that the largest increases occurred in the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa. More than 14 million cases of Coronavirus have been recorded worldwide since it appeared in China last December, and has killed nearly 596,000 people.
On the other hand, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the Iranian Ministry of Health estimates that 25 million citizens have been infected with the Corona virus so far, and that more than 30 million people may be infected in the next stage.
Rouhani added, at a meeting of the Corona Virus Control Committee, that the country witnessed two waves of outbreak, and it is likely that it will continue to circulate in the country until March 2021.
Fragile structure
In the context, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, confirmed on Saturday that the new Corona virus had exposed the "fragile structure" of societies, and could push 100 million people into extreme poverty.
Guterres - who spoke on the 102nd anniversary of the birth of the first black president of South Africa, the late Nelson Mandela - said that the Coruna virus highlights inequality in the world.
Guterres warned during an online lecture organized by the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg that "entire regions were making progress towards eradicating poverty and reducing inequality, back years in months."
"We are facing the deepest global recession since the Second World War. One hundred million people may be pushed into extreme poverty. We may witness famines at historical levels," he said.
Group checks in China
China launched a large-scale campaign Saturday to conduct mass tests of the Corona virus in the northwestern province of Cheng Yang, after the high number of HIV infections raised fears of a pandemic in this region.
The new examination system comes the day after the authorities reduced most flights to Urumqi, the provincial capital, closed the metro in the city and stopped public transport services.
Chinese media quoted an official as saying at a press conference that the entire city "entered a state of war" and announced that all group activities would be suspended, and Urumqi residents were advised not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary.
Millions of people with the Americas
The disease is further accelerating in the Americas, which account for more than half of the cases and half of deaths globally, according to a statistic conducted by Reuters news agency.
And tests have proven the injury of more than two million people in Brazil, including President Jair Bolsonaro, in addition to more than 76 thousand deaths, so that this country ranks second in the world in terms of the number of injuries after the United States.
In Argentina, on Friday, the number of people infected with the Corona virus exceeded 119,000, after 4,518 cases were registered within 24 hours.
India, which has more than a million cases, witnessed an average of thirty thousand new cases per day during the past week.