Worldwide coronavirus cases top 30 million
The total number of global cases has doubled since July 22.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 942,000 people worldwide.
Over 30 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has varied from country-to-country. Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.
The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 6.6 million diagnosed cases and at least 197,397 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 773,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 697,000 cases and over 674,000 cases, respectively.
Nearly 170 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least six of which are in crucial phase three trials.
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India records world's highest increase in new cases
India confirmed 97,894 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, marking the highest single-day increase in infections worldwide since the coronavirus pandemic began.
An additional 1,132 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded. The country's cumulative total now stands at 5,118,253 cases and 83,198 deaths, according to the latest data from the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
India has the second-highest tally of COVID-19 cases in the world and the third-highest death toll in the coronavirus pandemic, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The relatively low death toll in a vast county of 1.3 billion people is raising questions about how it's counting coronavirus fatalities.
India has reported more than 1 million cases this month alone. Based on the current rate of infection, India is expected within weeks to become the pandemic's worst-hit nation, surpassing the United States, where more than 6.6 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
India's health ministry has attributed the surge in infections to increased testing. The country is conducting more than 1 million COVID-19 tests per day.
2-month-old baby dies from COVID-19 in Michigan
A 2-month-old baby in Michigan has died from COVID-19.
Michigan's chief medical executive, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, announced the infant's death during a press conference Wednesday, while discussing how children are not spared from the novel coronavirus.
"I was so saddened to hear this news," Khaldun said. "My condolences go out to their parents and family."
Nearly 800 children across the United States have been diagnosed with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a new pediatric disease associated with COVID-19 that can cause multiple organs to fail, according to Khaldun.
"Studies show that while children are less likely to get severely ill from COVID-19, they still can and they can also pass it on to others," Khaldun said, while urging people to wear masks, wash their hands and maintain social distancing.
"COVID-19 is not something to be taken lightly," she added.
Twenty children under the age of 1 have died of COVID-19 nationwide as of Sept. 12, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.