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The global surge in COVID-19 cases is mainly driven by intense transmission in a relatively few countries, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said today, with South Africa now among the five hardest-hit countries. The global total today is at 15,348,877 cases, and 626,190 people have died from their illnesses, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard. (Schnirring, 7/23)

Global hot spot South Africa is seeing a “huge discrepancy” between confirmed COVID-19 deaths and an unusually high number of excess deaths from natural causes, while Africa’s top health official said Thursday the coronavirus is spreading there “like wildfire.” A new report by the South African Medical Research Council, released late Wednesday, shows more than 17,000 excess deaths from May 6 to July 14 as compared to data from the past two years, while confirmed COVID-19 deaths have surpassed 6,000. (Anna and Ntshangase, 7/23)

“People thought what happened elsewhere wouldn’t happen here, that it couldn’t happen here,” said Evaldt, a Porto Alegre banker. “Now it is very clear that a safe place doesn’t exist. No one is safe.” The sheer relentlessness of the surge here underscores Brazil’s failure to quell the world’s second-worst coronavirus outbreak. On Wednesday, Latin America’s largest country posted a record 67,860 new cases, bringing the total infected to 2.2 million, with nearly 83,000 dead. Both counts are second only to the United States. (McCoy, 7/23)

Also —

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday dismissed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s reported criticism that he was “bought” by China, calling them "untrue and unacceptable." Tedros said the organization is focused on “saving lives” and “will not be distracted” by the comments from Pompeo reported in the British media. (Coleman, 7/23)