A survey released Saturday showed governments are fast losing support for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as health officials recorded a surge of more than 280,000 new cases globally two days in a row.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, widely criticised for his handling of the crisis, appeared to credit an unproven treatment for his recovery from the virus.

And in the streets of Jerusalem and other cities, thousands called for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign, in part for his management of the coronavirus crisis.

There were more than 280,000 new cases recorded globally on both Thursday and Friday, the highest daily rises since the virus emerged in China late last year, according to an AFP count based on official sources, an alarming uptick in the spread of the virus.

Nearly a third of the world’s 15.8 million infections have been registered since 1 July, while the total death toll nears 640,000.

The World Health Organization said more than a million cases had been recorded in each of the last five weeks, “with over 280,000 being reported on July 24 alone”.

“While no country is unaffected, this rise is driven by high transmission in large and populous countries in the Americas and South Asia,” it said in a statement on Saturday.

Brazil and India had recently reported their highest daily increases, it added, while the figures remained worryingly high in the United States and South Africa – where Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel tested positive for the virus Saturday.

The US, still the hardest-hit nation, on Friday reported its second straight day of more than 70,000 new cases and over 1,000 deaths as the virus surges in the south and west.