More than 40.62 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,120,183 have died, according to a Reuters tally. India has recorded 54,044 new coronavirus infections, taking its tally to 7.65 million, Health Ministry data showed on Wednesday. The world's second most populous nation also has the second highest caseload, after the United States, which has a total of 8.2 million. India's death toll from the virus stood at 115,914, with 717 deaths in the last 24 hours, the ministry said. Infections in India have been on the decline since a September peak, but experts have warned there could be a surge as the festival season approaches. The Czech Republic reported 11,984 new cases of coronavirus for Oct. 20, the highest daily tally on record, as the country is struggling with a surge in recent weeks. The number of people who died of the COVID-19 disease rose to 1,619 from 1,513 over the past 24 hours in the country of 10.7 million, Health Ministry data showed on Wednesday. Russia recorded 15,700 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, as well as a daily record high of 317 deaths from the highly-contagious virus. Since the start of the pandemic, the country of about 145 million people has recorded 1,447,335 infections and 24,952 deaths, the authorities said. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. Meanwhile, talks between the British government and the city of Manchester on tighter COVID-19 restrictions broke down on Tuesday with both sides blaming each other. The northern English city is to see the highest level of restrictions imposed on Friday. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham had requested the government provide a minimum of £65 million (€71 million) in financial support before the city was put under Tier 3 COVID-19 restrictions in order to soften the impact of the new measures for residents and businesses. The government counter-offered with £60 million (€65.7 million). The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, accused the mayor of being "unwilling to take the action that is required to get the spread of the virus under control" in the area and to "reach an agreement with the government." Burnham told reporters in an afternoon press conference that "the government has walked away from us." "It's brutal, to be honest. This is no way to run a country in a national crisis," he said, adding that a £5 million difference was a lot for the local authorities and people living in difficult situations. "The pandemic has hit the north of England harder than other places because of the entrenched poverty," he argued. Upon being shown an email by Sir Richard Leese, the Manchester city council leader, which reportedly stated that the government would provide £22 million (€24 million) to the Greater Manchester Area, Burnham said the offer was "frankly disgraceful". At a later press conference from Downing Street, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that "Greater Manchester will move to the very high alert level" from midnight on Friday and will receive £22 million. "An agreement was not reached and I do regret this," Johnson said, describing the government's offer as "extensive" and "proportionate" to what was previously offered to Merseyside and Lancashire. He added that the funds are "separate and additional to any other support we were trying to agree with Manchester for business support" and that the government's "door remains open" to further discussions. On the introduction of the tighter restrictions, he said that "not to act would put Manchester NHS and the lives of many of Manchester's residents at risk". Areas under Tier 3 — the highest level of alert under the UK's multi-tier system — means pubs and bars can only remain open if they serve food and people are prohibited from socializing with anyone outside of their household or support bubble in any private setting or outdoor venues. The battle of words between Manchester authorities and the government comes as the UK recorded its highest one day increase in infections with 21,330 cases confirmed over the previous 24 hours. A further 241 fatalities were also recorded, taking the country's official death toll to 43,967 — the highest in Europe. Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, flagged however that the number of deaths on Mondays and Tuesdays tend to be higher as "we always get something of a catch up due to a delay of reporting deaths over the weekend." In Dakar, Senegal reported 27 new confirmed cases of the COVID-19. In a statement today, the Senegalese Ministry of Health said that the total number of COVID-19 cases reached 15,459, while the total deaths reached 320. In Algiers, Algeria reported 223 new cases of the COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections to 54,839. The Algerian Health Ministry reported 8 new deaths, bringing the total number to 1,873 deaths. On the other hand, the recovered cases reached 38,346. — Agencies
