Pandemic will get worse before it gets better, says Donald Trump

Australia reports a daily record of more than 500 infections.

Work goes on: A gardener goes about his tasks near a mural of a health worker in Mexico City on Tuesday.

The coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) death toll in the United States has spiked again with President Donald Trump conceding the pandemic crisis will get worse, as record infections in Australia underscored second-wave dilemmas globally.

Nearly 15 million cases have been confirmed and 6,15,000 lives lost since the virus was first detected in China late last year.

Almost a quarter of those deaths have been in the U.S., the worst-hit nation after a scattershot response from Mr. Trump that has been dominated by him repeatedly downplaying the severity of the crisis.

With authorities reporting on Tuesday the highest daily nationwide death toll in weeks of nearly 1,000, Mr. Trump adopted a newly serious tone. “It will probably, unfortunately get worse before it gets better,” the President told reporters during his first formal pandemic briefing for nearly three months.

Other nations, which had eased crippling lockdowns after the virus had appeared to fade, are struggling to combat second waves.

Second wave fears

Australia on Wednesday reported more than 500 infections in a day, posting a record high nearly four months after cases appeared to have peaked. In Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city where most of the new infections have occurred, wearing face masks will be mandatory from Thursday.

Second wave fears were also growing in Japan’s capital, with hundreds of new cases reported each day over the past week, promoting authorities to urge people to stay home during an upcoming national holiday. France also said transmissions were increasing again over the summer holiday season, after the country suffered one of Europe’s worst outbreaks during the spring.

Countries with fragile health systems have yet to enjoy even a brief reprieve from the virus, with Mexico on Tuesday passing 40,000 deaths — the pandemic’s fourth-highest national toll.