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Hard Numbers: Berlin's anti-lockdown protests, global COVID cases top 25 million, divided Americans, Oslo bunker tragedy

August 31, 2020
Gabrielle Debinski

38,000: At least 38,000 people — many from far-right groups — took to Berlin's streets this past weekend to demand an end to coronavirus restrictions. Some 300 people were arrested after German police said that "right-wing agitators" had thrown glass bottles at them.

25 million: Global coronavirus cases have now surpassed 25 million. India has emerged as the new epicenter, recording more than 78,000 new cases on August 29 alone, the highest single-day increase in the country to date.

77: A median of 77 percent of Americans say the country is more divided now than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to a Pew study. That's compared to 46 percent who felt the same way in Australia, and 28 percent in Denmark.

200: An illegal party attended by at least 200 people in an Oslo bunker 70 meters underground ended in disaster this weekend after at least 25 people were taken to hospital suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Party organizers were trying to skirt coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings following a rise in cases in recent weeks. A single two-square-meter opening provided the bunker's only entrance and exit.

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