Coronavirus Pandemic: Global Covid-19 Cases Top 98.6 Million Mark

Washington: The coronavirus pandemic has hit the world like never before. Here are some updates on the COVID-19 cases and death toll from around the world on Sunday.

The total number of global coronavirus cases has topped 98.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.11 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Sunday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 98,693,047 and 2,118,697, respectively.

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 24,985,689 and 417,339, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India comes in second place in terms of cases at 10,639,684, while the country's death toll soared to 153,184.

The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (8,816,254), Russia (3,658,447), the UK (3,627,746), France (3,093,619), Spain (2,499,560), Italy (2,455,185), Turkey (2,424,328), Germany (2,137,691), Colombia (2,002,969), Argentina (1,862,192), Mexico (1,732,290), Poland (1,470,879), South Africa (1,404,839), Iran (1,367,032), Ukraine (1,227,723) and Peru (1,082,907), the CSSE figures showed.

Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of fatalities at 216,445.

The countries with a death toll above 20,000 are Mexico (147,614), the UK (97,518), Italy (85,162), France (73,018), Russia (67,919), Iran (57,294), Spain (55,441), Germany (51,873), Colombia (50,982), Argentina (46,737), South Africa (40,574), Peru (39,274), Poland (35,253), Indonesia (27,664), Turkey (24,933), Ukraine (22,830) and Belgium (20,675).

US key Covid-19 metrics show decline this week

The rates of new Covid-19 cases, hospitalisations, and deaths across the US are on the decline this week, though some areas are still reporting wrenching death rates, according to a latest report of The COVID Tracking Project.

Weekly new cases were down 20 per cent, the lowest number of new cases for a non-holiday week since mid-November, according to the tracking project, the Xinhua news agency reported.

After 16 straight weeks of increases, average weekly hospitalisations dropped 4 per cent this week, a modest improvement, but a good sign, said the report.

The number of people currently hospitalized with Covid-19 declined by more than 10 percent from a week ago in 24 states. Hospitalisations are declining or flat in every state but New York, according to the tracking project.

States reported 21,301 Covid-19 deaths this week, the second-highest number of deaths of the pandemic to date.

However, the situation in US long-term care facilities remain alarming. For the second week in a row, long-term care facilities across the nation reported the highest death toll since May last year, more than 7,000 residents and staff, according to the tracking project.

Week-to-week comparisons show new deaths and new cases are on the decline nationwide, according to a news report, citing an internal memo of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

France registers 23,924 new Covid-19 cases in a day

France on Saturday reported 23,924 new cases of Covid-19 infection in a 24-hour span, raising the country's cumulative number of confirmed cases to 30,35,181, official data showed.

In the 24 hours, a further 230 people had succumbed to the disease in France, bringing the total death toll to 72,877, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Currently, 25,900 Covid-19 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals, representing a one-day drop of eight. Of those hospitalised, 2,896 need life support, down by six in one day.

So far, one million people in France have received anti-coronavirus vaccine jab, according to the Health Ministry.

The government targets to vaccinate 1.4 million vulnerable people and frontline health workers by the end of January, before extending the vaccination to nearly half of the country's 67 million population as of late May.

Russia logs 20,921 new Covid-19 cases

Russia registered 20,921 more Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 21,513 a day earlier, the country's Covid-19 response centre said Saturday.

The national tally has thus increased to 36,98,273 with 68,971 deaths and 31,09,315 recoveries, the centre said.

Moscow, Russia's worst-hit region, reported 2,668 new cases, down from 3,037 the previous day, taking the city's total to 9,10,057, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Nearly 99 million Covid-19 tests have been conducted across the country.

(With IANS Inputs)