Geneva, July 19 (TIWN) The number of new cases of coronavirus rose by almost 260,000 in 24 hours -- the largest single-day increase since the pandemic began, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

According to the WHO, this is the first time the number of new daily infections has surpassed a quarter of a million.  The biggest increases were in the US, Brazil, India and South Africa.  The global death toll from coronavirus also rose by 7,360 - the largest daily increase since 10 May.  The previous record rise in new confirmed cases was recorded by the WHO just one day earlier.  The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus passed 14 million on Saturday, with over 600,000 recorded deaths, according to the tally kept by US-based Johns Hopkins University.