Confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide now top 7 million, with over 400,000 deaths. As many countries open up again, the World Health Organization warned Monday the situation is getting worse globally.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “Although the situation in Europe is improving, globally it’s worsening. More than 100,000 thousand cases have been reported on nine of the past 10 days. Yesterday, more than 136 [thousand] cases were reported, the most in a single day so far.”

Nearly 75% of recent cases came from 10 countries, mostly in the Americas and South Asia, said the WHO. The WHO also said that the spread of COVID-19 by asymptomatic people appears to be rare.
Latin America remains the epicenter of the pandemic, with the highest tolls reported in Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Peru — which together account for over 1 million confirmed cases. The WHO said over the weekend Central and South America have likely not reached peak transmission yet.

However, Cuba remains a bright spot in the region, where infections have been on the decline for two months. Cuba announced this weekend it is “closing in on the tail end of the pandemic.”

In New Zealand, nearly all restrictions have been lifted, including social distancing and limits on public gatherings, as the country enters into the least restrictive phase of its recovery. New Zealand has not reported any new cases in over two weeks.

In South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he is “worried” as the country’s cases have surged over the past two weeks. On Monday, the official death toll topped 1,000.