The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc in countries across the world — the latest count being over 10 crore cases and more than 23 lakh deaths.

California has surpassed New York to become the state with the highest number of Covid deaths in the US, while Spain recorded its largest daily death count in the past 24 hours. South Korea is getting pets tested for the virus.

ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic.

Canada’s largest companies start mass testing

Some of Canada’s largest companies have launched a rapid testing programme with the aim of protecting their 350,000 employees, The Age reported.

The 12 companies, including Canada’s biggest airline Air Canada and grocery chain Loblaw Companies Limited, have created a 400-page operating manual on how to run rapid antigen tests in various work settings after collaborating for four months. They began piloting the tests in their workplaces last month and expect to expand the programme to 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses.

These companies also plan to share their test results with government health authorities, raising test counts in the country and providing an informal study of the virus’ spread among asymptomatic people. The companies were brought together by Ajay Agrawal, founder of the University of Toronto’s Creative Destruction Lab, which helps science and technology startups.

Canada has seen 810,797 coronavirus cases, out of which 39,179 are active cases. The country has recorded 20,909 deaths due to the pandemic.