The Brazilian leader is yet to recover from COVID-19 as he tests positive for the second time.

There are now over 13.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases globally, with over 582,000 fatalities and more than 7.5 million recoveries, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.

India joins many other countries and cities across the globe in reimposing localised lockdowns following sharp spike in the number of new coronavirus cases in the country.

Researchers in the United States say that the first vaccine tested in the country had worked to boost patients' immune systems and is set for final testing. This is as the number of cases nationwide rose by 65,682 for a total of 3.45 million with at least 919 new deaths added to the tally of around 136,000.

The blood from seriously ill coronavirus patients on ventilators was found by researchers to be highly inflammatory and harmful to the body, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday, citing a study by Dutch scientists.

South Africa's coronavirus cases of crossed 300,000, the most in Africa and amongst the top 10 in the world.

Africa's most industrialised nation recorded a rise of 12,757 cases on Wednesday to reach 311,049 confirmed COVID-19 cases, its health ministry said in a late evening statement, a little over four months since the first case was confirmed in the country.