Iran sets new daily record for COVID-19 cases

Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Iran on Saturday reported a new daily record of 9,450 COVID-19 infections as cases surged worldwide.

The new figure brings the country's total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 673,250, according to the Johns Hopkins University global tracker of COVID-19 cases and deaths.

The country also reported 423 new COVID-19-related deaths Saturday, bringing the total death toll to 37,832.

Out of the 9,450 new cases, 3,070 patients were hospitalized, Iran's Ministry of Health spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told Tasnim News Agency.

The capital Tehran has made mask wearing in public mandatory for the past few weeks.

Iran is the worst-hit country in the Middle East, global data on the pandemic shows.

Other countries worldwide are also seeing spikes in cases.

In Europe, COVID-19 cases are rising exponentially amid a second wave.

France and Madrid have tightened restrictions as Britain and parts of Italy adjust to new lockdowns.

Liverpool which has some of the highest infection rates in Britain, has implemented a mass testing pilot that ran "very smoothly, for the most part," according to Matt Ashton, director of public health for Liverpool city council.

The city aims to test up to 50,000 people a day once the mass testing is fully operational.

Liverpool soccer star Trent Alexander-Arnold urged people in his native city to get tested.

"Let's start to fight back against COVID, let's get tested," Alexander-Arnold said in a video in a tweet.

The British government aims to test Liverpool's entire population of nearly 500,000 people in 10 days.

Britain is under a second national lockdown after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's scientific advisors told him hospitalizations and deaths could get worse than than they did during the first wave of the virus if action's not taken.

The lockdown has closed down pubs, bars and restaurants except for takeout and delivery service, prompting a crowd to march through Liverpool's city center to protest against the restrictions.

In Latvia, the government has declared a state of emergency from Monday to Dec. 6 to curb the spread of COVID-19, according to LETA.

Due to the state of emergency, all public events will be banned except for outdoor meetings, rallies and pickets. In regard to private events, no more than 10 people from two households will be allowed to get together with an exception for funerals.

Sporting events will also be banned except for Olympic sports events for adult teams without spectators and teams playing in top adult leagues.

In Bosnia, Premier Zoran Tegeltija has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating at home, according to a statement Saturday from the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Tegeltija's condition "is stable and he has mild symptoms of coronavirus," the statement said.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Ministry of Civil Affairs reported Friday that 59,427 people have been infected with COVID-19 in the country since the start of the pandemic and 1,457 people have died.

In Madrid, two soccer stars, Eden Hazard and Carlos Casemiro, tested positive for COVID-19 Friday morning, a team statement said Saturday. COVID-19 tests for all of other players on the team came back negative, according to Real Madrid.

The diagnoses follows other high-profile players such Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool's Thiago Alcantara testing positive for COVID-19.

Worldwide, COVID-19 has infected over 49.4 million people and killed over 1.2 million people.