• Europe fears the second wave of coronavirus infections

Coronavirus cases are still on the rise in several countries like the US, Brazil, India, and many other countries. These countries are still battling with the first wave of the virus. But the bigger worry is that some nations that have successfully flattened the COVID-19 are seeing a spike in new cases again. These include European countries like Germany and the United Kingdom.

The head of Germany's public health agency has said he is "very concerned" by rising infections in the country. Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases, said this in his press briefing:

"The new developments in Germany make me very worried. The rise has to do with the fact that we have become negligent."

While urging his countrymen to wear masks and follow the SOPs put in place by the government, he further said:

"We are in the middle of a rapidly developing pandemic. We must prevent the virus from once again spreading rapidly and uncontrollably."

Germany has been a success story in combating the novel coronavirus efficiently as it flattened the viral curve sooner than its neighbors and reported lesser cases and deaths. As of today, Germany has reported 208,811 total cases and 9,212 deaths. But a spike is seen recently as the country has recorded 3,611 new infections In the past week.

UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson also showed his concerns on the rising number of new cases in his country.

"I'm afraid you are starting to see, in some places, the signs of a second wave of the pandemic in Europe."

He stressed that a second wave can be avoided if people take precautions such as wearing face masks, washing hands, and maintaining a physical distance. PM said:

"Everybody knows what the rules are. That's how we'll help ourselves."

• In the past 24 hours, China reported the highest number of cases in months

China, the place where novel coronavirus originated in late December last year, has successfully flattened the curve for several months now. Yesterday, the most populous nation of the world reported 105 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 29, up from 101 cases a day earlier, the health commission said on Thursday.

Of the new infections, 96 were in the far western region of Xinjiang, five were in the northeastern province of Liaoning, one was in Beijing, and three were imported cases, according to a statement by the National Health Commission. China also reported 21 new asymptomatic patients, down from 27 a day earlier.

As of today, China has 84,165 confirmed COVID-19 cases and the COVID-19 death toll stands at 4,634. 78,957 Chinese have fully recovered from the viral disease.