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

South Korea has seen a more than 40% jump in COVID-19 cases over the past month, as the virus spreads to every province across the country.

The total number of confirmed cases increased from 12,890 on July 26 to 18,265 on Aug. 26, a 41.7% increase, according to data from South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And in just the last two weeks, cases increased by 24% from the 14,714 reported on Aug. 12.

South Korea once had the largest COVID-19 outbreak outside China, where the virus first emerged, but health authorities were able to bring it under control with an extensive "trace, test and treat" strategy. Now, infections are on the rise in the capital and other parts of the country.

Some 6,800 schools will be closed across South Korea through Sept. 11 due to the growing outbreak. The country has implemented a Level 2 social distancing scheme, but authorities are hesitating to implement even tighter measures, according to Yonhap News Agency.

ABC News Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.

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.