Washington: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus crisis from around the globe on Sunday.
The overall number of global coronavirus cases has crossed the 66 million mark, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.52 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
In its latest update on Sunday, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 66,460,498 and 1,527,972, respectively.
The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 14,575,623 and 281,134, respectively, according to the CSSE.
India comes in second place in terms of cases at 9,608,211, while the country's death toll soared to 139,700.
The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (6,577,177), Russia (2,410,462), France (2,334,626), the UK (1,710,379), Italy (1,709,991), Spain (1,684,647), Argentina (1,459,832), Colombia (1,362,249), Germany (1,170,095), Mexico (1,168,395), Poland (1,054,273) and Iran (1,028,986), the CSSE figures showed.
Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of fatalities at 176,628.
The countries with a death toll above 20,000 are Mexico (109,456), the UK (61,111), Italy (59,514), France (55,073), Iran (50,016), Spain (46,252), Russia (42,228), Argentina (39,632), Colombia (37,633), Peru (36,195) and South Africa (22,067).
Canada's COVID-19 figures hit new records
COVID-19 cases reported new records in Canada, with a total of 406,839 cases and 12,583 deaths, according to CTV.
Quebec set a new high record on Saturday in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting 2,031 new cases, Xinhua news agency reported.
It is the first time in Canada that a daily increase in confirmed cases has surpassed 2,000 in a single province. It also broke the previous record number of new cases set on Dec. 1 when the province confirmed 1,513 new cases.
Meanwhile, Ontario province broke another record for the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in a single day, confirming 1,859 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, which is four more infections than the previous record set on November 27.
UK records another 15,539 coronavirus cases with 397 deaths
Another 15,539 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,705,971, according to official figures.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 397 to 61,014, the data showed on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.
The figures came as Britain's chief medical officers warned Saturday that the coming winter would be "especially hard" for the health service due to coronavirus despite hopes brought by vaccines.
"Although the very welcome news about vaccines means that we can look forward to 2021 with greater optimism, vaccine deployment will have only a marginal impact in reducing numbers coming into the health service with COVID over the next three months," the chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said in a letter to colleagues.
The experts urged the public to show restraint and self-discipline, especially in the run-up to Christmas.
US COVID-19 deaths top 280,000
US COVID-19 deaths surpassed 280,000, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
With the national caseload topping 14.4 million, the death toll across the United States rose to 280,090 on Saturday, according to the CSSE data, Xinhua news agency reported.
New York State reported 34,853 fatalities, at the top of the U.S. state-level death toll list. Texas recorded the second most deaths, standing at 22,825. The states of California, Florida and New Jersey all confirmed more than 17,000 deaths, the CSSE tally showed.
States with more than 10,000 fatalities also include Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Michigan.
(IANS)