On Thursday, the World Health Organisation reported that globally "there have been 43,766,712 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,163,459 deaths".
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The big recent spikes have been in Europe and the United States.
There have now been more than a quarter of a million deaths across Europe, with the number of cases forecast to rise steeply.
In the European Union countries plus the UK and other non-EU members, there are now about 168,000 new cases per day.
Taking account of population, that means more cases in Europe than in the United States (where the numbers of cases are also rising).
Recently, the US has been reporting an average of 68,767 new cases every day.
As numbers have risen very steeply, governments in Europe are tightening the regulations.
But unlike with the first wave of infections, there is now resistance and scepticism in some places.
France
On Tuesday, daily deaths from COVID-19 were at their highest level since April. There were 33,000 new cases confirmed.
In the face of the rise, the French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a second national lockdown until at least the end of November.
In a televised address on Wednesday, he said that France must now "brutally apply the brakes" to avoid being "submerged by the acceleration of the epidemic".
"The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated."
He said that half of all intensive care beds at French hospitals were being occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Under the new, tighter rules which start on Friday, people will only be permitted to leave home for essential work or for medical reasons such as urgent and important treatment for illnesses. They would have to fill in a form to leave their homes.
Non-essential businesses such as restaurants and bars will close but schools and factories will remain open.
Mr Macron said the measures were necessary because France risked being "overwhelmed by a second wave that no doubt will be harder than the first".
About two-thirds of France's population had already been subject to a 9pm curfew.
Britain
Unlike in Australia (with the possible exception of Victoria), the way the British governments (both national and regional) have dealt with the epidemic has caused deep political division.
Boris Johnson's government has been torn between keeping the economy going and locking it down. It's been stop-start, with many complaining that the rules are not consistent and are confusing.
The governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also set the rules in their own parts of the United Kingdom and that regional division, too, has led to controversy and confusion over what seem like inconsistencies.
When, for example, Mr Johnson announced that gatherings of more than six people would be forbidden, he was accused of "cancelling Christmas" by banning larger family gatherings.
That prompted poultry producers to say they were cutting output.
Every step and mis-step is scrutinised by newspapers and ramped into a political row.
One of the consequences of that may be a scepticism about the rules, a scepticism not helped by the memory of Mr Johnson's main advisor being spotted far from home in the previous lockdown.
He said he had gone for a drive to test his eyes.
There are signs that patience is wearing thin as the number of infections rise.
In an earlier stage of the epidemic, Britons stood on their doorsteps each week and collectively applauded health workers.
That has now ceased just as the burden on health workers looks like it is going to rise again, perhaps beyond any kind of ability to manage it.
Germany
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced a tightening of restrictions from Monday, though not as tight as the lockdown in France - some call the German measures "lockdown lite".
She painted a very bleak picture. "We are now at a point where, on average nationally, we no longer know where 75 per cent of infections come from. We can list 25 per cent of them," she said.
As a consequence, bars, theatres, cinemas and restaurants are to be closed. Sport will continue but behind closed doors. Public meetings will be restricted to no more than two households together, with no more than a total of 10 people.
The United States
It's not only Europe which is in danger of losing control of the virus (if indeed, it hasn't already done so).
In the US, the average number of cases a day has risen for more than three weeks. On Wednesday, there were more than 74,000 new cases for the first time.
The Washington Post said that "just as ominous: people around the country are in the hospital fighting the virus at a rate not seen since mid-August.
"As of Wednesday, more than 45,000 people were hospitalised, an increase of about 15,000 since the first of the month."
Any lessons?
Australia has shown more political unity in tackling the epidemic than have European countries and certainly more than the United States.
The Director-General of the World Health Organisation said this week: "When leaders act quickly and deliberately, the virus can be suppressed.
"But, where there has been political division at the national level; where there has been blatant disrespect for science and health professionals, confusion has spread and cases and deaths have mounted.
"This is why I have said repeatedly: stop the politicisation of COVID-19."