Coronavirus latest: Over 74K new cases in US children since early August, report says

The World Economic Forum has decided to postpone its 51st Annual Meeting in Davos due to safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

The elite conference at the Swiss Alps resort town, frequented by billionaires and heads of state, will be rescheduled for early next summer. The gathering was originally slated to take place in January 2021.

"The decision was not taken easily, since the need for global leaders to come together to design a common recovery path and shape the 'Great Reset' in the post-COVID-19 era is so urgent," Adrian Monck, managing director of public engagement at the World Economic Forum, said in a statement Wednesday. "However, the advice from experts is that the Forum cannot do so safely in January."

ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.

The Gaza Strip reported its first coronavirus-related fatality since May on Wednesday, after the besieged Palestinian territory went into a 48-hour lockdown prompted by a fresh cluster of COVID-19 cases.

A 61-year-old man died there after contracting COVID-19, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The death came just two days after a family of four tested positive for the disease in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip.

The new cluster of cases and death are the first known instances of the novel coronavirus spreading through the local community of the coastal enclave, which is ruled by the militant group Hamas. Prior to that, all cases and the lone death reported there were linked to Palestinians returning to the territory from abroad, who were placed into quarantine.

Palestinian authorities believe the new cases came from a woman who had contracted COVID-19 while receiving medical treatment in Jerusalem. Although Israel has imposed restrictions on movement in and out of the neighboring Gaza Strip for over a decade, some Palestinians are still permitted access to Jerusalem’s hospitals to receive essential health treatment, such as chemotherapy.

ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Guy Davies contributed to this report.

New Zealand reported five new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, three of which were locally transmitted.

The other two cases had been imported from abroad and were detected in isolation facilities. The national total of confirmed cases now stands at 1,344, of which 134 are active, according to data published on the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s website.

Health officials in New Zealand are trying to control a fresh outbreak there after going 102 days without any local transmission of the novel coronavirus. The new cluster of cases was discovered earlier this month in Auckland, the country’s most populous city, prompting authorities to impose a lockdown in the region and to reschedule national elections.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has extended Auckland’s lockdown, which is now slated to end Sunday night.

The proportion of people testing positive for COVID-19 in Germany who were likely infected abroad has "markedly increased to 42%," according to the country's public health institute.

That figure hit 45% earlier this year, the highest so far, but then fell steadily to 0.3% in the following weeks as a result of travel restrictions. Since borders have reopened, initially in Europe, the proportion of Germany's cases with a probable place of infection abroad "has increased significantly in recent weeks," the Robert Koch Institute said in Tuesday's daily situation report.

Kosovo, Croatia, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Spain and Romania were most frequently reported as the country of exposure.

"Through consistent prevention and early case identification, transmission and subsequent cases can be greatly reduced," the institute said. "It remains essential that people follow the rules of physical distancing and hygiene and avoid crowds, and that anyone who develops symptoms compatible with COVID-19 be tested immediately. In addition, travelers who stayed in a COVID-19 risk area within 14 days of entry must maintain a 14-day quarantine unless they have a negative test result."

As of Wednesday, Germany had reported 236,429 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 9,280 deaths. There were 1,567 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, according to the latest data from the Robert Koch Institute.