COVID Cases Rise by 10 Percent Worldwide, 3 Percent Increase in Deaths in Last Week: WHO

Hopes for summer fun are beginning to appear thwarted again following a Wednesday report from the World Health Organization (WHO) that said COVID-19 deaths are on the rise after a nine-week streak of declines, with more than 55,000 people globally succumbing to the virus, the Associated Press reported.

That's a 3 percent increase as cases shot up by 10 percent, or 3 million, according to the WHO.

The U.N. health agency said in its weekly report that the highest numbers of new cases were in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Britain. The more-contagious Delta variant has reached 111 countries since its detection in India, the WHO said, and is expected to become globally dominant in the coming months.

While acknowledging the "considerable pressure" for countries to lift COVID-19 restrictions, WHO advised that a lack of caution will only perpetuate the spread of the virus.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

Amid the surge, the overall death toll in hard-hit Argentina neared 100,000. Daily coronavirus deaths in Russia hit record highs this week. In Belgium, COVID-19 infections, driven by the delta variant among the young, have almost doubled over the past week. Britain recorded a one-day total of more than 40,000 new cases for the first time in six months.

In the U.S., with one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, newly confirmed infections per day have doubled over the past two weeks to an average of about 24,000, though deaths are still on a downward trajectory at around 260 a day.

Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the U.S., reported its fifth straight day Tuesday of more than 1,000 new cases.

Tokyo is under a fourth state of emergency ahead of the Summer Games this month. Experts have said caseloads could rise above 1,000 before the Olympics and multiply to thousands during the Games.

The spike has led to additional restrictions in places like Sydney, Australia, where the 5 million residents will remain in lockdown through at least the end of July, two weeks longer than planned. South Korea has placed its capital region under its toughest distancing rules yet because of record case levels.

Chicago officials announced Tuesday that unvaccinated travelers from Missouri and Arkansas must either quarantine for 10 days or have a negative COVID-19 test.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan asked that riders on buses and trains be required to wear masks even after other restrictions in England are lifted next week.

In the U.S., pressure is growing to boost vaccinations to counter the rise. Eighteen-year-old actress and singer Olivia Rodrigo planned to meet with President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday in a bid to persuade young adults to get their shots.

Nearly 160 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, or over 55 percent of the population, but young adults have shown less interest.

Ohio plans to announce another prize program to boost its vaccination rate, and Governor Mike DeWine urged the government to give the vaccines full approval instead of just emergency authorization to ease people's doubts.

"That will help us, in Ohio and across the country, to get more people vaccinated," he said.