The coronavirus pandemic is "not even close to being over", the WHO warned Monday, as the global death toll passed half a million and cases surged in Latin America and the United States.

And with numerous US states forced to reimpose restrictions on restaurants, bars and beaches, President Donald Trump has come under growing pressure to set an example by wearing a mask.

Trump's health secretary has warned the "window is closing" for the US to regain control, but the president has largely turned away from the crisis, holding indoor rallies with big, largely maskless crowds against the advice of his experts and refusing to cover his own face in public.

The second hardest-hit country Brazil registered 259,105 infections in the seven days through Sunday—the country's highest of any week during the pandemic.

The Middle East's most affected country Iran reported 162 more deaths on Monday, its highest single-day toll yet, a day after it also made mask-wearing mandatory for inside gatherings.