World

Global coronavirus caseload hits 84.4 million

January 02, 2021
As many as 84.4 million (84,460,368) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,837,166 have died.
As many as 84.4 million (84,460,368) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,837,166 have died.

LONDON — As many as 84.4 million (84,460,368) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,837,166 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 59,780,960 cases of global recoveries.

Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with over 84 million confirmed cases in 190 countries and more than 1.83 million deaths. The virus is surging in many regions and countries that had apparent success in suppressing initial outbreaks are also seeing infections rise again.

US coronavirus cases crossed the 20 million mark on Friday as officials seek to speed up vaccinations and a more infectious variant surfaces in Colorado, California and Florida, according to Reuters.

The United States has seen a spike in number of daily COVID-19 fatalities since Thanksgiving with 78,000 lives lost in December. A total of 345,000 have died of COVID-19, or one out of every 950 US residents, since the virus first emerged in China late in 2019.

To slow the death toll, Senator Mitt Romney on Friday urged the US government to enlist veterinarians and combat medics to give out coronavirus vaccinations.

The US rate of new COVID-19 infections increased in the second half of last year. An analysis of Reuters data shows it took 200 days to reach the first 5 million cases, 93 days to go from 5 million cases to 10 million, 31 days from 10 million to 15 million cases and only 25 days to go from 15 million to 20 million cases.

California has the most total cases of any state, with about 2.28 million infections followed by Texas with 1.76 million cases and Florida with 1.32 million cases.

The United States is averaging 186,000 cases a day, down from a peak in mid-December of over 218,000 new infections each day. Health officials have warned that cases will likely spike again after holiday gatherings.

Currently, there are more than 125,000 COVID-19 patients in US hospitals, up 25% in the last month.

While the United States has approved two vaccines, rollout is going more slowly than the government hoped. About 2.8 million Americans received a COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 31, falling far short of a 20 million target.

India and Brazil have the second and third highest case tallies, recording some 10.3 and 7.5 million cases respectively. Infections have been reported in more than 218 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

Daily cases have now fallen in many European countries after steep rises in October. Lockdowns and other restrictions were reintroduced in some of the worst-affected regions to help bring numbers down.

In Moscow, Russia reported 26,301 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 3,210,100 after it crossed the 3.21 million mark. Russia's coronavirus crisis center said 447 coronavirus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the overall national coronavirus death toll was at 58,002.

They added 18,897 people recovered from the virus, raising the total number of recoveries to 2,599,035. The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Russia on Jan. 31, 2020 when two Chinese citizens in Tyumen (Siberia) and Chita (Russia Far east) tested positive for the virus.

In Berlin, German health authorities reported on Saturday 336 deaths and 12,690 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said the country’s death toll increased to 33,960 cases and the total confirmed cases those to 1,755,351.

Germany responded to the second wave of the deadly pandemic by shutting hospitality businesses as well as leisure and sports facilities. Schools and non-essential shops have, however, remained open.

In Paris, the French Health Ministry reported 19,348 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Friday, slightly less than Thursday's 19,927 and well below Wednesday's more than one-month high of 26,457 but still far from the government's target of less than 5,000 daily additional infections, Reuters reported.

France's cumulative total of cases now stands at 2,639,773, the fifth highest in the world. The COVID-19 death toll was up by 133 at 64,765. France will impose an earlier curfew in 15 northeastern and southeastern departments from Saturday to combat the spread of the coronavirus, starting at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m., the government said on Friday.

President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that everyone in France should be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine if they want it, amidst broad criticism over the slowness of the vaccination program.

In Rome, Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak hit 74,621 on Friday after 462 more people succumbed to the disease over the past 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed. Some 2,211 new cases were logged in the same period to raise the total in one of the world’s worst-affected countries to 2,129,376, according to government figures. It noted recoveries topped 1,480,000.

In Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Saturday increased to 648,289 with 1,793 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They reported 53 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 19,581.

In Amsterdam, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment Friday reported that 8,215 new coronavirus cases were reported in the Netherlands raising the total number of infections to 805,340. Also around 98 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours raising the total deaths from COVID-19 to 11,531, said the institute.

In New Delhi, India said on Saturday that 224 people died due to COVID-19 while 19,079 new cases of the coronavirus were registered in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that fatalities due to COVID-19 rose to 149,218 as the total number of positive cases mounted to 10,305,788.

According to the ministry, 9,906,387 people recuperated from the pandemic as it spread to 35 states. India has the world's second-highest caseload, but daily infections have dipped steadily since hitting a peak in September.

In Seoul, South Korea reported 1,000 new coronavirus cases Friday, Yonhap reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total caseload at 61,769, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Twenty-one people died in the past 24 hours raising the death toll to 900.

On Sunday last, the government extended the current level 2.5 distancing measures in the capital area and Level 2 restrictions in the rest of the country until Jan. 3.

South Korea is grappling to contain yet another wave of virus infections with the toughest social distancing rules banning gatherings of five or more people. The government has urged citizens to strictly comply with the distancing rules, warning that any violations will face a fine of up to 3 million won ($2,700).

Brazil has registered more than 7.5 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 191,570, according to ministry data. Brazil ranks third in terms of infection numbers globally, behind the United States and India. On fatalities, Brazil ranks second behind the US.

Argentina, Colombia and Mexico have also recorded more than one million cases and all three countries are still seeing very high numbers of daily confirmed cases. Peru is also approaching the milestone of one million cases, although daily cases are falling. The country has one of the highest deaths rates in the world.

Africa has recorded more than two and half million cases, but the true extent of the pandemic there is not known as testing rates are low. South Africa, with more than 800,000 cases and nearly 23,000 deaths, is the worst affected country on the continent.

Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Tunisia are the only other African countries to officially record more than 100,000 cases.

In Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population said on Friday that 1,409 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 56 patients died over the past 24 hours. The figures took the country’s tally to 139,471 infections and 7,687 deaths the ministry said. Another 712 patients have been discharged from the hospitals, bringing the overall recoveries to 112,826.

In Rabat, Morocco on Friday said confirmed coronavirus cases had risen by 1,777 over the past 24 hours, while 37 more people succumbed to the disease to up the country’s death toll to 7,425. The North African nation’s caseload has reached 440,638 since the contagion came to light, according to the Health Ministry’s data, 2,134 infected people have recovered which showed the tally of people who have recovered from the virus till date as 409,638.

In Tunis, Tunisia’s Ministry of Health on Wednesday announced 54 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 1,417 more infections in 24 hours. The tally of confirmed deaths and infections rose to 4,730 and 140,557 respectively since the outbreak of the virus. Meanwhile, overall recoveries went up to 105,499.

Meanwhile, Mauritania’s Ministry of Health said Friday that 217 persons tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the country’s caseload to 14,518. Two more fatalities in the last 24 hours pushed the death toll from the viral illness to 349. The report said, 272 patients have been discharged from hospitals, raising the overall recoveries to 11,652 cases. — Agencies


January 02, 2021
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