Health workers wait to screen people for COVID-19 symptoms at a temple in Mumbai, India, Saturday, July 18, 2020.
(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)JOHANNESBURG South Africa was poised on Saturday to join the top five countries most affected by the coronavirus, while breathtaking numbers around the world were a reminder a return to normal life is still far from sight.
Confirmed virus cases worldwide have topped 14 million and deaths have surpassed 600,000, according to Johns Hopkins University data, a day after the World Health Organization reported a single-day record of new infections at over 237,000.
The country, however, remains the worlds most unequal, and health officials have warned that the pandemic will lay that bare.
The two most populous states each reported roughly 10,000 new cases and some of their highest death counts since the pandemic began.