BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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BOGOTA -- The number of COVID-19 infections in Colombia has reached 974,139, with 8,256 new cases registered in the last 24 hours, Colombian health authorities said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 170 more deaths were reported, raising the nationwide death toll to 29,272, authorities said, adding 876,731 people have so far recovered from the disease.

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MADRID -- The Spanish government is mulling new restrictions including curfews to contain a new wave of COVID-19 infections, Health Minister Salvador Illa said Tuesday.

Imposing a curfew in the capital city of Madrid and possibly beyond would require "invoking the state of emergency," Illa told reporters, adding that any such measure lasting over two weeks would require the support of some opposition parties.

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WELLINGTON -- New Zealand reported 25 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, 23 of which are imported cases caught at the border, and two are cases linked to the port worker reported on Sunday, who are workplace contacts.

Among the reported imported cases, 18 cases are in managed isolation at the Sudima Hotel in Christchurch. They arrived from Moscow via Singapore on a chartered flight on Oct. 16, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a news briefing.

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NEW YORK -- Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has witnessed 300,000 more deaths than usual, according to a new government report.

Citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report showed that from February to September, deaths reported in the United States usually would be about 1.9 million, while this year, the number is close to 2.2 million, up by 14.5 percent.

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CAIRO -- Egypt reported 158 new COVID-19 infections on late night Tuesday, bringing its national caseload to 105,705, its health ministry said.

The new cases mark the highest daily infections in the country since Sept. 16, when 160 infections were confirmed.

Meanwhile, 12 patients died from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 6,142, while 99 others completely recovered, increasing the total recoveries to 98,413, the ministry's spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.

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SAO PAULO -- Brazil reported 661 more deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 154,837, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 23,227 new cases were reported, taking the national count to 5,273,954.

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BEIJING -- No new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported Tuesday across the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said Wednesday.

A total of 11 confirmed cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported, the commission said in its daily report.