COVID-19 update

At press time, active COVID-19 infections had been confirmed in 188 countries and territories, with more than 26.5 million cases and, out of those, more than 872,000 deaths. The country with the most confirmed cases was the US, with 6.2 million. It was followed by Brazil (4.1 million), India (3.9 million) and Russia (one million).

After New Zealand went more than 100 days without recording a single community-transmitted COVID-19 infection, a family of four in Auckland tested positive for the virus on Aug. 12. Testing of people exposed to members of the family identified at least 24 more infections. In response, the city of Auckland went on lockdown for two weeks to limit exposure. The source of the family’s infection was not determined.