Statistics from Spain's health ministry on Wednesday indicated contagion levels were up, with 257 confirmed infections recorded in the past 24 hours compared to 124 the day before, raising the total to more than 252,500 since the pandemic hit the country.

There have been at least 28,300 confirmed deaths, nine of them recorded since Tuesday.

Admissions into hospitals and intensive care units are increasing, the data showed, especially in parts of the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia.

That's where authorities have made mandatory the use of face masks even when social distancing can be maintained.

Infection clusters around the Catalan city of Lleida, which has population of 200,000, have led to the first localised lockdown since Spain emerged from stay-at-home orders.

In Serbia, angry protesters spilled out in the streets of Belgrade and tried to storm parliament after health officials reported the highest single-day death toll of 13 amid 299 new COVID-19 cases.

Protesters hurled rocks, bottles and other objects and set fire to five police vehicles while video footage of the clashes showed police beating up some demonstrators.

Around two dozen demonstrators have been arrested while a law enforcement official said authorities are trying to identify more people who took part in the rioting.

Serbia President Aleksandar Vukic's concession that easing virus restrictions too soon possibly led to an infection spike recast the global dilemma of when to open up and by how much without igniting another virus flare-up.

Vucic backtracked on Wednesday on his new lockdown plans that were to take effect during the coming weekend, claiming the measure cannot be implemented without proclaiming a country-wide state of emergency.

Vucic said that although he still supports the lockdown, "most probably, there will be no curfew".

Belgrade's virus resurgence reflected a general trend in the Balkans where infections are keeping a high trajectory.

In Albania, 50-70 new cases are reported every day - many times over the daily number of infections reported during the country's lockdown in March and April.

In the United States, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 3 million on Wednesday.

The numbers suggest the coronavirus has affected nearly one person out of every hundred in the country.

California, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma and Texas broke their previous daily record highs for new infections.

US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci spoke in favour of state and local authorities requiring people to wear masks in public in a bid to curb infection rates.

"What is alarming is the slope of the curve," Fauci said of cases in Alabama in an online news conference on Tuesday with Alabama Senator Doug Jones.

He added, "the signal should be wear a mask, period".

The African continent passed the half million mark of coronavirus infections according to figures released on Wednesday by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

South Africa reported another day of more than 10,000 confirmed cases.

There's no way to know the real number of confirmed virus cases among Africa's 1.3 billion people as its 54 countries continue to face a serious shortage of testing materials for the virus.

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he was confident that he will swiftly recover from the coronavirus thanks to treatment with hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug that hasn't been proven effective against COVID-19.

In Israel, Defence Minister Benny Gantz said he is going into quarantine over concerns he was recently exposed to a COVID-19 carrier.

Gantz, who also serves as alternative prime minister, says he feels well and is isolating out of a sense of responsibility.

The World Health Organisation's emergencies chief, Mike Ryan, said the coronavirus is continuing to gain pace globally with daily reported cases rising to 200,000 - double the number of cases reported in April and May.

Ryan said that although the number of COVID-19 deaths appeared to be stable now, he warned that a spike in fatalities could soon follow.

Australian Associated Press