Coronavirus updates: Hard-hit Wisconsin reports record high daily death toll

The World Health Organization said more than 2.2 million new cases of COVID-19 and 39,000 deaths from the disease have been reported across the globe in the past week, the highest number of reported cases so far in a single week since the start of the pandemic.

According to the WHO's weekly epidemiological update published Monday, Europe registered the highest weekly incidence of COVID-19 cases of any region since the start of the pandemic, with almost 700,000 new infections reported. The region's weekly incidence in cases and deaths increased by 34% and 16% respectively in comparison to the previous week. The United Kingdom, France, Russia and Spain account for over half of all new cases reported in the region.

Africa reported a substantial rise in deaths from COVID-19, with a 27% increase compared to the previous week. South Africa continues to register more than half of all confirmed cases reported in the region, the WHO said.

Still, nearly half of the world's cases and deaths continue to be reported in the Americas region, with the United States, Brazil and Argentina accounting for the greatest numbers, according to the WHO.

All regions showed an increase in cases during the reporting period, except Southeast Asia. Countries reporting the highest number of cases in the last seven days include India, the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom and France, the WHO said.

Iowa has tallied more than 100,000 positive cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

The midwestern U.S. state reached the grim milestone on Monday amid a surge in new cases. More than half of all 50 states have now passed the 100,000 mark.

As of Tuesday morning, the Iowa Department of Public Health had recorded a total of 100,507 positive cases out of 867,124 individuals tested so far, with a positivity rate of 11.6%.

U.S. President Donald Trump is heading to the Hawkeye State, where he will host a campaign rally Wednesday following his recent COVID-19 diagnosis.

The eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao has tested more than a third of its 9 million residents for COVID-19 since launching a citywide testing campaign amid the country's first reported domestic outbreak in months.

The Qingdao Municipal Health Commission said in a statement Tuesday that it had collected over 3 million samples for COVID-19 tests and that no new cases have been found among the more than 1.1 million results returned thus far. The entire city will be tested this week, the commission said.

A total of 12 cases of COVID-19 -- six with symptoms and six without -- have been recorded in Qingdao, since an outbreak linked to the city's Municipal Chest Hospital was discovered over the weekend, according to the commission.

The Chinese mainland, where the coronavirus pandemic began last December, has so far reported 85,591 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 4,634 deaths. The country does not count asymptomatic infections as confirmed cases.

The Italian government imposed strict new measures nationwide on Tuesday in a bid to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus.

Under the new rules, parties in public spaces and discos, both indoors and outdoors, are banned. Parties can be held in restaurants but with no more than 30 attendees. Bars, ice cream parlors, pastry shops and restaurants with table service must close by midnight, while those without must shutter by 9 p.m. Drinks can only be consumed while sitting at tables -- not while standing at the bar or outside -- after 9 p.m.

Also banned are school trips, guided tours and any contact sports not organized by an association that can maintain social distancing rules. Gyms, however, remain open.

The government's new measures are limited to "strong recommendations" against private gatherings and parties in homes with more than six people who don't share a household. There's also no obligation to wear a face mask inside a home but it's "strongly recommended" when guests are over.

Last week's nationwide mandate to wear masks outdoors remains in place.

The move comes as Italy, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, sees a sharp uptick in infections after gradually loosening restrictions during the spring and summer, following a nearly three-month lockdown that helped get its COVID-19 outbreak under control.

Earlier this month, the European country confirmed more than 5,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day for the first time since the peak of its outbreak in late March. On Monday, Italy's civil protection agency registered 4,619 new cases and 39 deaths, bringing the cumulative totals to 359,569 cases and 36,205 deaths.

ABC News' Clark Bentson and Phoebe Natanson contributed to this report.