Coronavirus live news: US nears 10m cases as global infections pass 50m | World news

Here is more on a third world war being a ‘risk’ in the wake of the pandemic.

The economic fallout during the coronavirus pandemic has made the prospect of a third world war “a risk”, the UK’s most senior military commander has said.

PA Media reports that General Sir Nick Carter, the chief of the defence staff made the comments when asked by Sky News in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday whether he feared the global economic crisis brought on by coronavirus could lead to war. He told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme there was a worry that the increase in regional conflicts playing out across the world could ramp up into “a full-blown war”, mirroring the run-up to the two world wars in the 20th century when a series of alliances between countries led to years of bloodshed.

The senior official argued that, with the world being “a very uncertain and anxious place” during the pandemic, there was the possibility “you could see escalation lead to miscalculation”.

“We have to remember that history might not repeat itself but it has a rhythm and if you look back at the last century, before both world wars, I think it was unarguable that there was escalation which led to the miscalculation which ultimately led to war at a scale we would hopefully never see again,” said Carter.

Asked whether he was saying there was a “real threat” of a third world war, he replied: “I’m saying it’s a risk and we need to be conscious of those risks

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest coronavirus news from around the world. I’ll also include updates from the US elections where relevant.

As always, you can find me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

Speaking of the US, the world’s worst-affected country in terms of the number of confirmed Covid-19 infections is about to pass 10m cases, as the global total tops 50m, according to Johns Hopkins. According to Reuters calculations, the latest seven-day average shows global daily infections are rising by more than 540,000, and October was the worst month of the pandemic so far.

The US currently has just under a fifth of the global total – 9,949,530 cases – and in recent days has often registered over 100,000 cases a day. America has lost at least 237,542 people to the pandemic this year.

The global death total is 1,254,453.

• The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has passed 50 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which shows that the US, India and Brazil have the highest figures.
• The economic fallout during the coronavirus pandemic has made the prospect of a third world war “a risk”, the UK’s most senior military commander has said. General Sir Nick Carter, the chief of the defence staff made the comments when asked by Sky News in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday whether he feared the global economic crisis brought on by coronavirus could lead to war.
• France reported a further 38,619 coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 1,787,324. It follows a record daily increase on Saturday, when a staggering 86,852 cases were logged.
• Algeria’s president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has responded well to coronavirus treatment after being hospitalised 13 days ago.
• Greece has reported a record daily rise of 35 coronavirus deaths, and 1,914 new cases of the virus. The authorities announced 34 deaths on Saturday.
• Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Manchester on Sunday to object against the national lockdown in England, resulting in four arrests and several fines.
• Italy has registered 32,616 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday, down from 39,811 on Saturday.
• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a further 93,811 coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total to 9,808,411. It follows a string of record figures, with the country tallying more than 100,000 new cases for four consecutive days.
• The UK has reported 20,572 new infections and 156 deaths, taking the country’s caseload to 1,192,013 and its official toll to 49,044.