More people were diagnosed with covid-19 during the past seven days than any other week since the start of the pandemic -- topping 5.2 million globally -- with the worst outbreaks accelerating in many countries that are ill-equipped to deal with them.
The worrisome trend, just days after the world surpassed 3 million deaths, comes as countries are rolling out vaccinations in an effort to get the virus under control. The data from Johns Hopkins University showing a 12% increase in infections from a week earlier casts doubt on the hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight.
The weekly increase surpassed the previous high set in mid-December. While infection rates have largely slowed in the U.S. and U.K., countries in the developing world -- India and Brazil in particular -- are shouldering surging caseloads.
The global death toll is also resuming momentum. Fatalities have increased for the past month and were about 82,000 the week that ended Sunday, an average of almost 12,000 a day. That's up from just over 60,000 in the week that ended March 14, or about 8,600 a day, the most recent nadir.
India and Brazil are the two largest contributors in driving up cases globally -- a race neither of them wants to win. Facing a sudden surge in coronavirus infections, India is once again home to the world's second-largest outbreak, overtaking Brazil after the latter moved ahead in March. Hospitals from Mumbai to Sao Paulo are under increasing pressure as admissions continue to rise.
India and Brazil have so far administered doses equivalent to cover 4.5% and 8.3% of their populations respectively, compared with 33% for the U.S. and 32% in the U.K., according to Bloomberg's vaccine tracker.
But it's not just developing nations that have seen recent setbacks in their efforts to tackle the pandemic. Rare cases of clotting seen in people who have taken vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have fueled the vaccine skepticism being faced by governments worldwide.
New variants of the virus have also sent infections surging further. Brazil is where one of the most potentially deadly coronavirus mutations, the P.1 variant, was identified in December. Studies suggest these strains -- along with variants first seen in South Africa and the U.K. -- are more contagious.
FLIGHT TO NEW ZEALAND
Meanwhile, New Zealand and Australia were reunited Monday after a more than a yearlong separation.
In one of the world's first experiments in reopening borders, the first quarantine-free flight from Australia landed in New Zealand on Monday, reciprocating a half-bubble in place since October that allowed New Zealand visitors to fly the other way.
The separation has been keenly felt because the two countries normally are close. More than half a million New Zealanders live in Australia, and citizens of each country have working rights in the other.
In Queenstown, a tourist spot on New Zealand's South Island, two firetrucks trained their hoses over the runway to create an arch of water for the first plane to taxi through when it landed.
"It's like we're back in the business we were designed for," Adrienne Young-Cooper, chair of the Queenstown Airport, said on local television. "We knew it was going to be a long time, but we didn't know quite how long," she said of the coronavirus travel shutdowns.
At Wellington airport, a band played a cover version of "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS. Among the well-wishers in Sydney were a group of drag queens in sparkling costumes and colorful wigs. They carried gold balloons and signs saying: "We've missed you, New Zealand."
"It is truly exciting to start quarantine-free travel with Australia. Be it returning family, friends or holidaymakers, New Zealand says, 'Welcome and enjoy yourself,'" New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
New Zealand has seen just over 2,500 cases during the pandemic, with 26 deaths. Australia has had over 29,000 cases and 910 deaths. Both nations have gone significant stretches without domestic spread, but have seen periodic flare-ups.
Ardern earlier this month warned people to prepare for their travel plans to be disrupted if there is a coronavirus outbreak in either country.
GREEK TRAVEL RULES
Separately, Greece on Monday lifted quarantine restrictions for travelers from most European countries, as well as Israel and the United States as it prepares to reopen tourism services next month despite an ongoing emergency in pandemic-related hospital care.
Air travelers from those countries will no longer be subject to a seven-day quarantine requirement if they hold a vaccination certificate or negative PCR test issued within the previous 72 hours, the Greek Civil Aviation Authority said.
The countries made exempt are EU member states, the U.S., Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia, Israel, and non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland that are part of a European travel pact.
Government spokeswoman Aristotelia Peloni described the new travel rules as a "pilot measure" as Greece reopens more of its economy, noting that tourists are also subject to domestic travel restrictions.
Greece remains under partial lockdown after widespread restrictions were imposed in early November, but has struggled to contain an urban spike in infections that have kept intensive care facilities close to capacity.
Information for this article was contributed by Jinshan Hong of Bloomberg News (WPNS); Rachel Pannett of The Washington Post; and by staff members of The Associated Press.