A medical personnel wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) is silhouetted while administering a swab test at a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site in San Pablo, California, US, on April 28, 2020. (DAVID PAUL MORRIS / BLOOMBERG)

JOHANNESBURG / PAIRS / NEW YORK / MEXICO CITY - US President Donald Trump has again pushed for schools to reopen despite the severe COVID-19 pandemic across the country, according to The Guardian newspaper.

 "We got to open up our schools and open our businesses," Trump said on Wednesday. "Children often have only mild symptoms, and medical complications are incredibly rare," the newspaper quoted the president as saying.

Virus cases in the US jumped by 63,742 on Friday, the first day over 60,000 this month, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. It was a 1.2% increase compared with average daily growth of 1% for the previous seven days.

Deaths also rose, to 1,323, from 1,080 on Thursday. It was the fifth day in a week with fatalities over 1,000. California had the highest number of confirmed infections, at 613,101, while cases in Hawaii jumped 5.4%.

WHO

More than 30 countries reported a daily COVID-19 caseload over 1,000, according to a report released Saturday by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Among the countries, four topped the list with over 10,000 new daily cases, according to the data received by the WHO from national authorities as of 10 am CEST (0800 GMT) on Saturday.

Countries with a daily caseload between 1,000 and 10,000 are mainly in Latin America, Europe and Asia.

READ MORE: Germany new cases rise most in 6 weeks as global tally tops 17m

France 

France is to propose that masks be worn in shared workspaces as the country grapples with a rebound in coronavirus cases that rose again in the past 24 hours to over 3,000.

The health ministry reported 3,310 new coronavirus infections, marking a post-lockdown high for the fourth day in a row.

The number of clusters being investigated increased by 17 to 252, it said in a website update.

The resurgence prompted Britain to impose a 14-day quarantine for people arriving from France, and led the authorities in Paris to expand zones in the capital where wearing a mask is mandatory outdoors.

Employment Minister Elisabeth Borne said she would propose on Tuesday at talks with employer and union representatives that masks be compulsory in collective workspaces.

Russia

Russia registered 4,969 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 922,853, the country's COVID-19 response center said in a statement Sunday.

Meanwhile, 68 new deaths were reported, taking the nationwide count to 15,685.

Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, reported 688 new cases, taking its tally of infections to 252,374, the response center said.

Ireland 

Ireland reported 200 new COVID-19 cases arising from multiple clusters across the country on Saturday, the highest daily amount since the beginning of May that the country’s chief medical officer described as “deeply concerning”.

Ireland has reopened its economy at a slower pace than most European Union countries but that did not stop a rise in cases over the last two weeks that led to the first localised reimposition of some restrictions last week.

Health chiefs are due to decide next week whether to lift the controls in the adjoining counties of Kildare, Laois and Offaly, and advise government the following week if the economy can move into a twice-delayed final phase of the reopening plan that would allow all pubs to open.

Italy

Italy registered 629 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the highest since May 23. The number of new cases has been rising daily since Monday, according to data published by the civil protection agency. Total cases reported since late February rose to 253,438.

ALSO READ: New German virus cases most since April, global tally tops 21m

UK

New cases in the UK were above 1,000 for a fifth consecutive day, government data Saturday showed. Another 1,012 infections brought the total to 317,379 and deaths climbed by three to 41,361.

The country moved ahead with easing its lockdown on Saturday, allowing wedding receptions with up to 30 guests at sit-down meals. The resumption of indoor performances, bowling alleys and casinos meant that about 300 spectators were admitted to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for the finals of the World Snooker Championship.

Georgia 

Georgia confirmed 15 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing its total to 1,321.

Nine of the 15 new cases had travelled to Svaneti in northern Georgia, the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health said.

As of  Saturday, 1,088 of the 1,321 patients have recovered, while 17 others have died, the center said.

Brazil

Brazil reported 41,576 cases, down from 50,644 the previous day, for a total of 3,317,096, according to the Health Ministry’s website. 

Another 709 deaths were reported, down from 1,060 the previous day. Total fatalities in the nation with the worst outbreak after the US are now 107,232.

Colombia 

The number of COVID-19 cases in Colombia has risen to 456,689 and the death toll to 14,810 after 11,578 new cases and 318 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection said on Saturday.

Secretary of Economic Development for Bogota Carolina Duran declared that next month, around 1,000 restaurants will begin a pilot reopening program in which diners will receive service outdoors.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Bogota Claudia Lopez announced that a strict quarantine will continue in seven areas of the city until Aug. 30, despite protests by members of the business community.

Peru

Peruvians are expressing their support for the measures announced by President Martin Vizcarra to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, including a return to Sunday curfews and an adoption of social restrictions.

"I give my full support to the social quarantine, which is for the good of the whole country because it is the only way to mitigate this disease that is killing thousands of Peruvians," Pedro Rosales, a teacher, told Xinhua.

Paris municipal police officers wearing face masks ask people to put on their masks in Montorgueil street in Paris, on August 15, 2020. (BERTRAND GUAY / AFP)

Mexico

Mexico will need up to 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses, according to a senior government official, and inoculation of its 120 million inhabitants could start as early as April if clinical trials and regulatory approvals for pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca Plc go as planned.

Ecuador 

Ecuador has registered 100,688 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 6,065 deaths, the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday.

According to the ministry, 1,279 new cases and 35 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Costa Rica

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Costa Rica rose to 27,737 on Saturday after tests detected 806 new cases of infection in the previous 24 hours.

The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 291 after 10 more patients died of the disease in the same period, the country's health ministry said.

Of the confirmed cases, 12,800 are female and 14,937 are male, while by nationality, 20,586 are Costa Rican and 7,151 are foreigners.

Dominican Republic 

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Dominican Republic rose to 85,545 on Saturday after tests detected 1,057 new cases of infection in the previous 24 hours.

The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 1,438 after 29 more patients died of the disease in the same period, the Ministry of Public Health said.

Of the confirmed cases, 6,898 are in hospital isolation and 25,853 are self-quarantined at home.

South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday that all indications were that South Africa had reached the peak of COVID-19 infections, as he announced a sweeping removal of lockdown restrictions on the economy.

In a televised address, Ramaphosa said the government would end the ban on alcohol and tobacco, allow restaurants and taverns to return to normal business, subject to strict hygiene regulations, and remove the ban on travel between provinces.

Despite imposing one of the world’s toughest lockdowns when the country had only a few hundred cases, South Africa saw a surge in coronavirus infections that left it with the fifth highest number of cases in the world — currently around 579,000, of whom around 11,500 have died.

The COVID-19 crisis has battered an economy already in recession and pushed millions of South Africans deeper into extreme poverty.

Chile

Chile reported on Saturday that the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the South American country has risen to 383,902, with 10,395 deaths.

According to the Health Ministry, in the previous 24 hours, tests detected 1,777 new cases and 55 more patients died of the virus.

Chilean health authorities said 356,951 people have recovered from the disease and 16,556 cases are considered active.

Morocco 

Morocco reported 1,776 new COVID-19 cases, the biggest single-day increase so far, taking the number of infections in the country since March 2 to 41,017.

The total recoveries increased by 922 to 28,556, while the death toll rose by 21 to 632 in the past 24 hours, said Mouad Mrabet, coordinator of the Moroccan Center for Public Health Operations of the Ministry of Health, at a press briefing.

Egypt

Egypt recorded Saturday 116 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country to 96,336, the Egyptian Health Ministry said.

It is the 14th day in a row for Egypt's COVID-19 daily infections to fall below 200, after they started to exceed 200 on April 23.

Ethiopia

Ethiopia's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 28,894 after 1,652 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed on Saturday, the country's Ministry of Health said.

This is so far the highest daily increase in the Horn of Africa country.

Seventeen more patients succumbed to illnesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the East African country to 509, according to the ministry.

Botswana 

In efforts to determine the extent of the spread of COVID-19 in communities, Botswana will start surveillance testing of the virus next week.

The announcement was made by the Director of Health Services Malaki Tshipayagae on a local radio station on Saturday.

Tshipayagae said they have already identified health facilities around the country where people will be tested randomly and they intend to conduct around 20,000 tests monthly.

Botswana has been concentrating their testing at the country's entry points and on contact tracing of those who have already tested positive for the virus.