Global coronavirus cases pass 100 million mark
Over 2.1 million people have died, with the US reporting the most number of fatalities at just under 425,000
NEW YORK Global coronavirus cases surpassed 100 million yesterday, according to a Reuters tally, as countries around the world struggle with new virus variants and vaccine shortfalls.
Almost 1.3 per cent of the world's population has now been infected with Covid-19, and more than 2.1 million people have died.
One person has been infected every 7.7 seconds, on average, since the start of the year. Around 668,250 cases have been reported each day over the same period, and the global fatality rate stands at 2.15 per cent.
The worst-affected countries - the US, India, Brazil, Russia and Britain - make up more than half of all reported Covid-19 cases but represent 28 per cent of the global population, according to a Reuters analysis.
It took the world 11 months to record the first 50 million cases of the pandemic, compared to just three months for cases to double to 100 million.
Around 56 countries have begun vaccinating people for the coronavirus, administering at least 64 million doses.
Israel leads the world on per capita vaccinations, inoculating 29 per cent of its population with at least one dose.
With over 25 million cases, the US has 25 per cent of all reported cases although it accounts for just 4 per cent of the world's population.
The US leads the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported, accounting for one in every five fatalities reported worldwide each day.
With just under 425,00 fatalities, the US has reported almost twice as many deaths as Brazil, which has the second-highest death toll in the world.
As the worst-affected region in the world, Europe is currently reporting a million new infections about every four days and has reported nearly 30 million since the pandemic began. Britain on Tuesday reached 100,000 deaths.
The Eastern European region, including countries like Russia, Poland and Ukraine, contribute nearly 10 per cent of all global cases.
Despite securing deals for vaccine supplies early on, many European countries are facing delays in shipments from both Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
In India, the nation with the second-highest number of cases, infections are decreasing, with almost 13,700 new infections reported on average each day - around 15 per cent of its peak.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said last Friday that India was completely self-reliant on coronavirus vaccine supplies as the world's second-most populous country inoculated more than one million people within a week of starting its campaign.
China, which recently marked the first anniversary of the world's first coronavirus lockdown in the city of Wuhan, is facing its worst wave of local cases since March last year.
As richer nations race ahead with mass vaccination campaigns, Africa is still scrambling to secure supplies as it grapples with concerns about more infectious variants first identified in South Africa and Britain.
According to the Reuters tally, African countries have nearly 3.5 million cases and more than 85,000 deaths.
The South African variant is 50 per cent more infectious and has been detected in at least 20 countries. - REUTERS
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