COVID surges dim hopes for speedy end to pandemic

The United States reported a daily record of COVID-19 deaths and Brazil's toll passed the bleak milestone of 200,000 on Jan. 7 as new surges of the coronavirus dimmed hopes for respite from the pandemic anytime soon.

Sharp rises in cases around the world have led authorities to impose a slew of new lockdowns and other restrictions, even as dozens of countries roll out the first stages of the vaccination campaigns hailed as the light at the end of the tunnel.

China has imposed emergency measures to tackle an outbreak in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, while Tokyo began a month-long state of emergency Friday, calling on businesses in the Japanese capital to stop serving alcohol by 7:00 pm and residents to stay home after 8:00 pm.

Canada and Lebanon have ordered nighttime curfews, while the World Health Organization warned that European nations need to ramp up efforts to deal with a new, more contagious strain of the virus that first emerged in England.

The plight of countries struggling to control the virus matters beyond their borders, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

"The fact is that no one is safe until we are all safe," it said.

"The nature of this virus means that the world can only be as strong as the weakest health system."

The global outbreak shows no signs of abating, with nearly 1.9 million people known to have died worldwide and 87 million confirmed cases.

The numbers continued to pile up at an alarming rate in the United States, the country with the world's highest death toll, at more than 360,000.

The U.S. registered a record 3,998 deaths over the past 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Brazil, the country with the second...