Today we document a somber landmark: 10 million cases and nearly 500000 deaths of COVID-19 have now been reported globally. This comes amidst recent record numbers of new cases, with several countries reporting their highest number of new cases in a 24-hour period. As some countries start to reopen their societies and economies, WHO strongly encourages individuals, communities, and nations to take measures to reduce transmission, extend testing and contact tracing, and provide optimal care for every case. WHO has published advice for the public and an extensive range of guidance documents, and is working across the globe to support countriesin the response to the pandemic. 

Today we report a record number of new cases in the last 24 hours globally (189 077 cases), with several countriesreporting theirhighest number of new casesin a 24-hourperiod.

The phenomenon of an ‘infodemic’ has escalated to a level that requires a coordinated response. An infodemic is an overabundance of information–some accurate and some not–occurring during an epidemic. 

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a global initiative between multiple partners to ensure equitable access to life-saving tools for COVID-19. WHO has published the ACT-Accelerator Investment Case, which provides an overview of the ACT-Accelerator, its goals, and the investments that are required to carry out its mission. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros emphasized that “vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics are vital tools – but to be truly effective they must be administered with another essential ingredient, which is solidarity”.

Yesterday the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was declared over after nearly two years. The WHO Regional Office for Africa and partners are now building on the Ebola response to tackle COVID-19 in the country. Additionally, WHO is supporting other countries in Africa as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates in the region.

It has never been clearer that communication is an important public health intervention that contributes to controlling pandemics. The WHO Regional Office for Europe discusses this and the risks of an “infodemic” – an overabundance of information, some of which can be misleading or even harmful. WHO launched the first Infodemiology conference on 29 June, which includes talks with experts on how the infodemic affects the world and reflections on how it can be managed.