NSWs adds 189 historic cases to total New South Wales has quietly added 189 confirmed cases of coronavirus to its total overnight, bringing the total to 3,400 cases. The health department said 189 historic cases reported in crew members on board a ship were classified as Australian cases and included in NSW totals. Eleven million cases of coronavirus worldwide There are now 11m confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide, according to the data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Several US states report record numbers of cases Reuters is reporting that Alabama and several other US states reported record increases in coronavirus cases on Friday ahead of the long weekend: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alaska all saw new daily highs in confirmed cases of Covid-19 ... while Florida’s caseload came in just below the prior day’s record high. The recent surge in cases, most pronounced in southern and western states, has alarmed public health officials, who urged caution ahead of a 4 July holiday weekend that in normal times would feature big gatherings of families and friends. North Carolina reported 951 hospitalisations and 2,099 cases, marking a new record for the first time in three weeks. ‘Highest new case count, highest hospitalisations, highest per cent positive since end of April. Please be cautious this holiday weekend,’ Betsy Tilson, North Carolina state health director, wrote on Twitter about Friday’s figures. Despite the jump in infections, the daily death rate in the United States has remained relatively flat, a reflection of the growing proportion of positive tests among younger people who tend to be healthier and less prone to severe outcomes. However, the US surgeon general, Jerome Adams, warned that the impact on fatalities from the recent surge which started in mid June had yet to be seen. ‘Deaths lag at least two weeks and can lag even more,’ he told Fox & Friends on Friday. Nine News is reporting a train passenger in Sydney, New South Wales, is being transported to hotel quarantine after showing symptoms of Covid-19. Good morning Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic. I’m Josh Taylor and I will be with you on the blog for the next few hours. You can reach me on Twitter @joshgnosis or email me josh.taylor@theguardian.com. Here’s the latest rundown of global coronavirus news: Several US states recorded new daily highs in confirmed coronavirus cases. Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alaska all recorded record numbers of new cases, as the US reported 55,274 new cases nationally on Thursday. Brazil reported 1,290 more deaths and registered 42,223 new cases in the past 24 hours. It remains the second-worst in terms of case numbers in the world, just behind the United States. The US will be on a “red list” of high-risk countries that people in England are advised not to visit for non-essential reasons because of its continued high level of coronavirus cases, the UK government said. Travel restrictions will be relaxed in England for more than 50 countries including nearly all EU countries, British territories, Australia and New Zealand. The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, stood by his decision to allow pubs, bars and restaurants to reopen in England on a Saturday despite concerns from the public that it could put extra strain on the police and the health service. In a radio interview, he suggested that the day of the week for reopening would not make a difference. Cases of coronavirus are surging in South Africa, a month after the country lifted most of the restrictions brought in with one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. On Thursday authorities reported the country’s biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases, adding 8,728 confirmed infections and taking the total count to 168,061. The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iraq increased sevenfold in June, the International Rescue Committee said as it urged a redoubling of efforts to contain the spread of the disease in the country. By 1 July there had been 53,708 infections detected in the country, up from 6,868 on 1 June. The ministry of health said that hospitals are almost at full capacity. A fresh state of emergency was declared in Belgrade, with a number of restrictions restored after a new increase in coronavirus infections in the Serbian capital. Local authorities had already declared emergencies in several other municipalities where a rise in coronavirus cases had threatened to disrupt the functioning of the health system. The Philippines reported its highest single-day increase in coronavirus infections, with 1,531 new cases detected in the past 24 hours, bringing the national total to 40,336. The country’s Covid-19 death toll has reached 1,280, after 12 more deaths from the disease. The European commission gave conditional approval for the use of antiviral remdesivir in severe Covid-19 patients following an accelerated review process, making it the region’s first therapy to be authorised to treat the virus. The move comes just a week after the European Medicines Agency gave its go-ahead for the drug, produced by Gilead Sciences. Life in Russia is unlikely to return to normal until next February at the earliest, the country’s health minister said. Many restrictions have already been eased, but with thousands of new cases still being reported every day, and a death toll approaching 10,000, some measures remain in force, including a ban on international flights, extended on Thursday until August.