This archive report was first published on 28 June 2020.
As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has become the epicenter of the outbreak, surpassing 2.5 million coronavirus cases.
According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, the US recorded over 43,000 new cases on Saturday, with the total number of cases now exceeding 2.5 million.
US deaths have also risen sharply, with over 125,000 fatalities reported, accounting for approximately one-fourth of the world total of over 495,000.
The surge in cases has put a strain on the US economy, with efforts to reopen businesses and industries being dramatically set back.
President Donald Trump has been pushing for a swift reopening of the economy, but the rising number of cases has raised concerns about the safety of such measures.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has also weighed in on the issue, saying that something must be done to prevent the coronavirus from causing economic problems.
However, he also warned that negligence and a significant spread of the disease would lead to increased economic problems.
Meanwhile, the European Union has pushed back a decision on a list of 'safe countries' from which travellers can visit Europe, a list that could potentially exclude the US.
Stars such as Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, and Jennifer Hudson have lent their support to a European Commission-led drive to raise 6.15 billion euros ($6.9 billion) to support vaccine research and make it available to poorer countries.
Some countries are still far from reaching their peak in infections, authorities say, with densely populated cities in India being particularly hard hit.
The country set a daily record on Saturday with 18,500 new cases and 385 deaths, with total infections now at 509,000 and over 15,600 deaths.
Latin America continues to be ravaged by the disease, with Peru surpassing 9,000 deaths in total on Saturday.
Brazil recorded 990 deaths on Saturday, the highest in the world that day, while Mexico recorded the second highest, 719.
Florida's Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, has conceded that there has been an 'explosion' in new cases, with the state notching 9,585 cases in 24 hours, a new daily record.
The average age of people infected has dropped sharply, from 65 two months ago to 33, with young people frustrated by months of confinement pouring back to the state's beaches, boardwalks, and bars, often without masks and seemingly unconcerned about social distancing.
As a result, Miami has announced that its beaches will close over the July 4 holiday weekend, while bars are also closing.
Georgia, Nevada, and South Carolina also reported new daily record cases on Saturday, while Arizona broke its record for hospitalizations.
With President Trump struggling to lift his re-election bid off the ground ahead of November, the campaign has confirmed that events featuring Vice President Mike Pence in Arizona and Florida next week have been postponed 'out of an abundance of caution.'
Trump had faced a backlash after insisting on a rally in Oklahoma despite virus concerns one week ago.
California's Governor, Gavin Newsom, has ordered some areas to reinstate stay-at-home orders, while San Francisco has announced a 'pause' in its reopening.
Texas has also shut down its bars, with Governor Greg Abbott saying that if he could 'go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars.'
As the world marks 50 years since the first Gay Pride march, the LGBT community and their supporters have taken many of their events online for Global Pride, a 24-hour online event broadcast live.
