Coronavirus cases grow in France, Global cases hit 25 million

France has seen its highest number of coronavirus cases in five months as Emmanuel Macron insisted the country was doing 'everything to avoid another lockdown'.

Some 7,379 people were found to have been infected with the virus across the Channel on Friday - just shy of the record 7,578 high set on March 31. The figures represented what the health ministry described as an exponential surge just days before millions of children are due to return to school for the first time since March. 

It comes as a second wave continues to surge across Europe, with Portugal becoming the latest country to report a rise in coronavirus cases, sparking fears it may be added to the UK government's quarantine list.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally has topped 25 million, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. The US leads the count with 5.9 million cases, followed by Brazil with 3.8 million and India with 3.5 million. The real number of people infected by the virus around the world is believed to be much higher – perhaps ten times higher in the US, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention – given testing limitations and the many mild cases that have gone unreported or unrecognised. 

Global deaths from Covid-19 stand at more than 842,000, with the US having the highest number at 182,779, followed by Brazil with 120,262 and Mexico with 63,819.