GENEVA, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday reported 212,326 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day increase since COVID-19 broke out.

The biggest increase was reported in the Americas region with 129,772 new cases, said the WHO, adding that nearly half of the new cases were recorded in the United States and Brazil, with 53,213 and 48,105 new infections, respectively.

The Southeast Asia region recorded the second-largest surge with 27,947 new cases and 534 deaths over the past 24 hours, it added.