More than 500,000 new infections were reported worldwide in a new daily record, according to an AFP tally — almost half of them in Europe.
The deepening gloom across the continent and other parts of the world contrasted with the jubilation in Australia s second city of Melbourne where champagne corks popped to celebrate the end of a months-long lockdown.
The pandemic has unleashed devastation across the global economy since emerging in China at the end of 2019.
And in the absence of a vaccine or effective treatment, countries are being forced to impose widely unpopular Covid-19 restrictions that have sparked violent clashes in Italy.
Much of the United States — the worst-hit nation — is also bracing for a tough winter, and the pandemic is dominating the campaign for next week s election.
In Europe, the main stock markets tumbled as investors fretted over tighter measures expected to be imposed in the EU s leading economies.
Daily cases of Covid-19 in France have topped 50,000, while Germany is regularly reporting 10,000 new infections.
