The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is approaching near 39 million globally, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The Covid-19 cases reached 38,833,032 globally as of Friday morning, reports agencies.
Meanwhile, the death counts reached 1,097,228.
More than 26.8 million people recovered from the virus infection, the JHU tally shows.
Worst-hit countries
The United States remains the worst-hit nation by the pandemic, with more than eight million infections and 217,754 deaths.
A new ensemble forecast published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday projected up to 240,000 Covid-19 deaths in the United States by November 7.
India's tally reached 7,307,097 and death toll 111,266 on Thursday, as 67,708 new cases and 680 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours across the country.
There are 812,390 active cases in the South Asian country, while 6,383,441 people have been successfully cured and discharged in.
Meanwhile, the third worst-hit country Brazil has counted 5,169,386 cases and 152,460 deaths.
Russia reported 13,754 new cases and 286 deaths on Thursday, following Wednesday's record daily rise, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,354,163 and death toll to 23,491.
Soaring infections in Europe
Setting up field hospitals, installing ICU beds, even purchasing more beds, countries in Europe are scrambling for hospital beds as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic rolls in with vengeance, reports Xinhua.
French health authorities on Thursday reported that the new daily infections jumped above 30,000 for the first time since the start of the epidemic, reports the BBC.
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday has announced a night-time curfew in Paris and eight other cities for at least four weeks to control the spread of the coronavirus.
On Thursday, the Netherlands reported 7,833 new single-day cases of COVID-19, a new high over the 7,296 cases confirmed in the previous 24 hours.
In Belgium, authorities confirmed a daily average of 5,421 new coronavirus cases in the last seven days (Oct. 5 to Oct. 11), a 101-percent increase from the previous week.
On Wednesday, 1,777 hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, compared to 1,050 on Oct. 7 -- an increase of 69 percent.
In Italy, an epicenter in Europe during the first wave of the coronavirus epidemic, saw a new record of 8,804 daily infections on Thursday, up from 7,332 the previous day.
Even Ireland witnessed late Wednesday 1,095 confirmed new cases, its highest ever recorded in a single day since the outbreak of the pandemic.
At a virtual press conference on Thursday, World Health Organization Regional Director for Europe Dr. Hans Kluge confirmed that the number of cases in Europe had surpassed seven million, with almost 700,000 new infections reported in the past week alone -- the highest weekly incidence of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
