Poonam Singh

Washington: The total global Covid-19 caseload has topped 94.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.02 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 94,417,649 and 2,020,103, respectively.

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 23,727,467 and 395,372, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India comes in second place in terms of cases at 10,542,841, while the country's death toll soared to 152,093.

The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (8,455,059), Russia (3,507,201), the UK (3,367,053), France (2,931,683), Turkey (2,380,665), Italy (2,368,733), Spain (2,252,164), Germany (2,038,645), Colombia (1,891,034), Argentina (1,791,979), Mexico (1,609,735), Poland (1,429,612), South Africa (1,325,659), Iran (1,324,395), Ukraine (1,192,114) and Peru (1,056,023), the CSSE figures showed.

Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of fatalities at 209,296.

The countries with a death toll above 20,000 are Mexico (139,022), the UK (88,747), Italy (81,800), France (70,093), Russia (64,134), Iran (56,717), Spain (53,314), Colombia (48,256), Germany (46,464), Argentina (45,295), Peru (38,654), South Africa (36,851), Poland (33,213), Indonesia (25,767), Turkey (23,832), Ukraine (21,637) and Belgium (20,352).

Canada's Covid cases top 700,000

Canada's Covid-19 cases surpassed 700,000 on Saturday, with the total hitting 700,988, including 17,847 deaths, according to CTV.

Canada reported 22 cases of the B.1.1.17 virus variant found in Britain and one case of the 501Y.V2 virus variant confirmed in South Africa as of January 13, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ontario reported 3,056 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday morning, as well as 51 more deaths related to the disease.

The province's total number of cases came to 234,364 and the total number of fatalities rose to 5,340 while the number of recovered patients was 200,406.

While, Quebec reported 2,225 new cases and 67 more deaths. The province's Covid-19 cases came to 240,970 and the deaths number was 9,005 while the total number of recovery was 210,364.

Canada has begun its largest mass vaccination program in history with Covid-19 inoculations getting underway.

The country has secured more than 400 million vaccine doses from multiple manufacturers, including Pfizer and Moderna, the only two Covid-19 vaccines currently approved in Canada.

France's Covid death toll tops 70,000

France reported 196 Covid-19 deaths in a 24-hour span on Saturday, taking the national tally to 70,142, according to the latest data released by the Public Health Agency.

Another 21,406 people tested positive for Covid-19 in one day, bringing the cumulative total of cases in the country to 2,894,347, Xinhua news agency reported.

Over the last seven days, 9,653 Covid-19 patients have been hospitalized, including 1,402 who are on ventilator, the agency added.

A curfew starting at 6 p.m., instead of 8 p.m., came into force on Saturday, forcing shops to close two hours earlier and citizens across the country to stay at home until 6 a.m., in a move to contain the virus spread.

Russia's Covid cases up 24,092 to 3,544,623

Russia registered 24,092 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 3,544,623, the country's coronavirus response centre said in a statement on Saturday.

Meanwhile, 590 new deaths were reported, taking the nationwide count to 65,085, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Covid-19 response centre.

According to the statement, 2,936,991 people have so far recovered, including 27,311 recoveries reported over the past day.

Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, reported 4,674 new cases, taking its tally of infections to 887,636, the centre said.

(With IANS Inputs)

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