The COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen and now stands at just over two million cases worldwide – a near doubling last week’s total. According to data compiled by John Hopkins University, countries with the largest outbreaks are as follows: the United States (609,685 cases), Spain (177,633), Italy (162,488), Germany (132,210), France (131,362), the United Kingdom (94,847), China (82,809), Iran (73,389), and Turkey (65,111). Over 128,011 deaths have now been recorded worldwide.

Countries now find themselves at varying points of the epidemic curve. There’s speculation that the United States – the world’s largest outbreak by a sizable margin – may now be approaching its peak infections. However, the country continues to post record-breaking daily death totals (which tend to lag behind new infections), with Tuesday’s 2,228 deaths serving as the latest grim milestone. Fortunately, many of the hardest-hit European countries appear to be on a tenuous road to recovery. Italy relaxed some of its lockdown conditions earlier this week; though its daily death count is still high at 602, new infections have been falling steadily. ICU admissions fell in France (albeit slightly), and children are returning to school in Denmark, with the German government said to be possibly following suit. The news isn’t all positive though: new outbreaks are ramping up, notably in Russia, where President Putin has warned of an ‘extraordinary crisis’ amid spiking new infections.