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Saturday, Feb 21, 2026

Coronavirus dashboard

Coronavirus dashboard

WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases for second day in a row. Global: Total confirmed cases: 14,126,793. Total deaths: 596,688. Total recoveries: 7,953,273

The biggest increases reported on Saturday were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 237,743 on Friday. Deaths rose by 7,360, the biggest one-day increase since May 10. Deaths have been averaging 4,800 a day in July, up slightly from an average of 4,600 a day in June.

Total global coronavirus cases surpassed 14 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed nearly 600,000 people in seven months. The surge means that 1 million cases were reported in under 100 hours.

The WHO reported 71,484 new cases in the United States, 45,403 in Brazil, 34,884 in India and 13,373 in South Africa.

FDA approves pooled testing for coronavirus — Gov. Cuomo clears New York City for Phase 4 of reopening — Study: Middle, high schoolers can spread coronavirus as well as adults.

The World Health Organization announced on Saturday a record number of new coronavirus cases globally for the second straight day.

By the numbers:
Per the WHO, 259,848 people around the world tested positive for COVID-19, surpassing the previous record set Friday of 237,743 new cases.

  • More than 596,600 people have died from the virus and over 14.1 million have tested positive worldwide. More than 7.9 million have recovered.

  • Brazil has the world's second-highest number of deaths (over 78,700) and infections (2 million-plus) after the U.S., where there have been more than 139,900 deaths and over 3.69 million confirmed cases.

The Canadian government denied the Blue Jays' request to play at their home field in Toronto, Ontario, this season over fears surrounding the surge in coronavirus cases in the U.S.

  • Children and teenagers aged 10 to 19 can spread the coronavirus at least as effectively as those over the age of 20,   a new study out of South Korea finds.

  • India surpassed 1 million novel coronavirus infections on Friday, per Johns Hopkins. Schools, colleges, movie theaters, pools, religious gatherings and metro travel remain shut down across the country until at least the end of July.

  • Hong Kong's secondary schools, primary schools and kindergartens will closed on Monday, per education secretary Kevin Yeung.

  • Japan is reporting more novel coronavirus cases daily and surpassed 200 daily infections several times last week, per Johns Hopkins data.

  • The WHO: "The greatest threat we face is not the virus itself," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a Geneva briefing, per the New York Times. "Rather, it is the lack of leadership and solidarity at the global and national levels."

Between the lines:
Policy responses to the crisis have been every-country-for-itself and — in the case of the U.S. and China — tinged with geopolitical rivalry. But the scientific work to understand the virus and develop a vaccine has been globalized on an unprecedented scale.

Coronavirus symptoms include: Fever, cough, shortness of breath, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headaches, sore throat and a loss of taste or smell.

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