The number of new infections with the coronavirus in Europe has climbed above the 100,000 mark for the first time, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO statistics updated on Friday show an increase compared to the previous day of 109,749 cases, after almost 99,000 new cases were reported on Thursday.

In Europe, the virus has been spreading steadily since August.

In North and South America, around 127,000 more cases were registered on Friday compared to the previous day.

According to earlier information from the WHO, every 10th person in the world could have contracted the novel virus by now.