By Nectar Gan, Adam Renton, Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner and Mike Hayes, CNN
From CNN's Joe Sutton in Atlanta
At least 61,660 new coronavirus infections and 1,244 virus-related deaths were confirmed in the United States on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The US' cumulative case count now stands at 4,351,997, including 149,256 fatalities, according to JHU.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
CNN is tracking US coronavirus cases here:
From CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo
Japan's Ministry of Health recorded 981 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday -- the highest daily increase in the country since the pandemic began.
Previously, the country's highest daily spike was 966 cases, recorded on July 23.
The total number of infections reported in Japan now stands at 32,613, with 1,014 deaths.
Osaka and Aichi prefectures recorded their own highest daily infections on Tuesday. Osaka recorded 155 cases while Aichi confirmed 110 infections.
CNN is tracking worldwide coronavirus cases here:
From CNN's Shelby Lin Erdman
The United States was slow in recognizing the coronavirus threat from Europe, Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted for the first time Tuesday in an interview with ABC News.
"The introduction from Europe happened before we realized what was happening," Redfield said. "By the time we realized (the) Europe threat and shut down travel to Europe, there was probably already two or three weeks of 60,000 people coming back every day from Europe," he added.
"That's where the large seeding came in the Unites States."
The US restricted travel from China on February 2 and from Europe on March 13, but by March 8, Covid-19 was already circulating among the community in New York City and, by March 15, community transmission of the virus was already widespread, a recent analysis from the CDC found.
By the time the Trump administration banned travelers from Europe, the virus was already spreading in New York City, according to the report. Testing was also limited at the start of the epidemic there, allowing people with undetected cases to spread the virus.
Read the full story:
From CNN's Isaac Yee
Vietnam has confirmed eight new Covid-19 infections in the resort city of Da Nang, according to Chinhphu, the official government newspaper.
The new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in Vietnam to 446, while the death toll remains at zero. Da Nang has recorded 29 new infections over the past five days.
Over 16,000 people who are either close contacts of confirmed cases in Da Nang or have entered “pandemic hit areas” have been placed under medical surveillance. Among them, 12,996 people have been placed in centralized quarantine camps, Chinhphu reported.
On Monday, 80,000 tourists were ordered to leave Da Nang, after a new outbreak hit the city following around 100 days of no local transmissions.
From CNN's Isaac Yee
The Australian state of Victoria recorded 295 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, state Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday.
Victoria also recorded nine new coronavirus deaths, bringing the statewide death toll to 92. The 295 new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 9,304.
“If you are sick, you must get tested,” said Premier Andrews, who also urged people who are showing symptoms to stay home and get tested. He added that “this is largely a second wave fueled by outbreaks in workplaces.”
Andrews also announced that 18,077 people were tested on Tuesday, bringing the total number of tests conducted in Victoria to 1,554,705.
Victoria police said they fined 103 individuals who breached the chief health officer's directions over the past 24 hours, including three people fined for gathering to celebrate a birthday.
Victoria’s new numbers come as the state of Queensland announced it would close its borders to Greater Sydney starting on Saturday in order to curb the spread of the virus. New South Wales, the state Sydney is located in, reported 19 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
From CNN's Isaac Yee in Hong Kong
China recorded 101 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest single-day increase since early April, according to numbers released by the National Health Commission on Wednesday.
Among the new cases, 98 were locally transmitted, including 89 in the far western region of Xinjiang where a fresh outbreak has emerged this month. One local infection was also found in Beijing, and the remaining local cases were found in Liaoning.
On Tuesday, China also recorded a further 27 asymptomatic infections, which are not included in the tally of confirmed cases.
This is the first time China has reported more than 100 new infections in a single day since April 12, when the country reported 108 new cases -- most of which were imported.
It is the third consecutive day China has reported the highest daily spike in local infections since early March.
From CNN's Karol Suarez in Mexico City
Mexico surpassed 400,000 coronavirus cases Tuesday after its health ministry recorded 7,208 new cases.
The country has now reported a total of 402,697 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
The ministry also added 854 new fatalities from coronavirus Tuesday, bringing Mexico's death toll to 44,876.
From CNN's Betsy Klein
White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx on Tuesday provided some dire warnings for states that are in the task force-defined "yellow zone" for cases and test positivity, which she said are different from outbreaks across the country earlier this year.
On a call Tuesday with Vice President Mike Pence and several governors, she said there has been “significant improvement” in "red zone" states Florida, California, Texas, and Arizona following orders to close bars, decrease indoor dining, and require the use of masks. The task force defines its "red zone" states as more than 100 cases per 100,000 people and more than 10% test positivity.
But she said there are still rising cases and test positivity in other "red zone" states: Mississippi, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, Georgia, Idaho, and Arkansas.
Birx said "yellow zone" states, which the task force defines as having between 10 and 100 cases per 100,000 and 5-10% test positivity, have had a similar profile to "red zone" states: “Starting with the 20 to 30 year-olds presenting as a first wave.”
“Remember, the majority of those are asymptomatic so if you expect to see hospitalizations, by the time you see hospitalization, your community spread is so widespread that you’ve flipped into a red state incredibly quickly,” Birx said.
She said the task force is working with governors and mayors in the following places: Colorado, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minneapolis, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, Ohio, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
The task force, Birx said, is talking with these places “about increasing mitigation efforts now because if we wait until increased hospitalizations it is really way too late. Because what we are experiencing now is really different than March and April, it’s very different from the outbreaks of May that was typically contained. This widespread community spread in the younger age group both rural and very urban and urban areas so by the time you see it up to 80-90% of your counties already have more than 10%.”
Birx expressed concern for major metros like Chicago and Philadelphia, as well as California’s Central Valley, and applauded Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s mask mandate, which she said is having a “significant impact.”
Pence reiterated that the administration does not want another closure -- something, he said, “We don’t ever want to see again,” but pointed to studies that show that the use of masks, bar closures, limiting outdoor dining, and limiting social gatherings are having similar effect as sheltering in place earlier this year. He recommended governors in "yellow zone" states “take a hard look” at those four measures “whether it be on a county-by-county basis or a statewide basis.”
“We’ll support your decision, but I think your big message to these states that may be emerging is don’t wait,” Pence said.
From CNN's Allison Malloy
US President Donald Trump defended his tweets in support of hydroxychloroquine saying that the drug is still “very positive” and called a doctor who was spreading conspiracy theories on Covid-19 in a now deleted video “very impressive.”
When discussing the video that he retweeted Monday night featuring a group of doctors making false claims related to coronavirus, Trump said the thought were “very respected doctors.”
“There was a woman who was spectacular in her statements about it and she’s had tremendous success with it. And they took her voice off -- I don’t know why they took her off but they took her off. Maybe they had a good reason, maybe they didn’t,” he said.
The video, published by the right-wing media outlet Breitbart News, featured a group of people wearing white lab coats calling themselves "America's Frontline Doctors" staging a news conference in which one speaker who identifies herself as a doctor makes a number of dubious claims, including that "you don't need masks" to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and that recent studies showing hydroxychloroquine is ineffective for the treatment of Covid-19 are "fake science" sponsored by "fake pharma companies."
When challenged on these claims by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Trump demurred saying, “She was on air along with many other doctors. They were big fans of hydroxychloroquine and I thought she was very impressive in the sense that … she said she has tremendous success with hundreds of different patients and I thought her voice was an important voice but I know nothing about her.”
Trump shared multiple versions of the video -- which was deleted by Twitter, Facebook and YouTube -- with his 84 million Twitter followers Monday night despite the claims running counter to his own administration’s health experts. When pressed by Collins on this fact, Trump abruptly ended the news conference.
But Trump once again stuck by his defense of hydroxychloroquine, telling reporters about his tweet: “I wasn’t making claims. It’s recommendations of many other people including doctors.”
“I think it’s become very political. I happen to believe in it. I would take it -- as you know I took it for a 14-day period. I’m here -- I happen to think it works in the early stages. I know frontline medical people believe that too, some, many.”
“It’s safe, it doesn’t cause problems. I had no problem,” Trump said adding, “It didn’t get me and it’s not going to hopefully hurt anybody,” Trump added.
A study found that neither hydroxychloroquine alone nor hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin appeared to affect the condition of patients at the 15-day mark. Additionally, unusual heart rhythms and elevated liver-enzyme levels were more frequent in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine alone or with azithromycin, according to the study.
