California on Thursday reported over 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 in a two-day period, and the United States reported a one-day record of 3,865 deaths the day before, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
The grim figures came as nearly 6 million Americans have been vaccinated against the disease.
The United States has recorded more than 364,000 deaths and 21.5 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began — the highest rates of any country in the world.
Meanwhile Thursday, Britain announced mandatory COVID-19 tests for all international arrivals to the country.
Brazil surpassed 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, making it the country with the second-highest death toll in the world.
Canada moved Thursday to keep elementary schools in the province of Ontario closed until at least January 25. Ontario officials said the positivity rate among children under 13 was as high as 20%.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures in response to a surge of new coronavirus cases in the capital.
The decree takes effect Friday and lasts until February 7. Residents in Tokyo, China, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures are encouraged to stay home after 8 p.m., and restaurants and bars are to close at the same time.
Wednesday’s declaration was the second issued by the government since the start of the pandemic. Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally declared a 30-day state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures in April in the early days of the outbreak.
However, neither decree imposed a legally binding nationwide lockdown because of Japan’s post-World War II constitution, which is heavily weighted in favor of civil liberties.
Tokyo posted a one-day record of 2,447 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, breaking the record of 1,591 from the day before. Nearly 6,000 new COVID-19 infections were posted nationwide on Wednesday, itself a one-day record.
More than 87.9 million global coronavirus cases have been recorded, including 1.8 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
