Covid Watch: Japan, Russia, Iran, US report huge jump; Global caseload tops 206 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 206 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.34 million, with Iran, Japan, Russia and US reporting sudden jump in cases. 

According to the Johns Hopkins University's latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and vaccination tally stood at 206,196,367, 4,344,715 and 4,610,658,306 , respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 36,592,398 and 621,005, respectively, while, India follows in second place with 32,117,826 new cases.

The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are Brazil (20,319,000), France (6,471,262), Russia (6,468,890), the UK (6,241,443), Turkey (6,039,827), Argentina (5,074,725), Colombia (4,860,622), Spain (4,693,540), Italy (4,427,827), Iran (4,359,385), Germany (3,819,876), Indonesia (3,804,943) and Mexico (3,068,329), the CSSE figures showed.

In terms of deaths, Brazil comes second with 567,862 fatalities. Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are India (430,254), Mexico (247,414), Peru (197,279), Russia (165,996), the UK (131,116), Italy (128,379), Colombia (123,221), Indonesia (115,096), France (112,705) and Argentina (108,815).

Iran reports 39,119 new Covid cases

Iran on Friday reported 39,119 new Covid-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 4,359,385, while the total death toll so far stood at 96,742. The deaths in Iran went up by 527 in the past 24 hours, according to the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Iran reported the first cases of the disease in February 2020.

A total of 3,674,529 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,154 remain in intensive care units, according to the ministry. By Friday, 14,445,642 people have received the first dose of coronavirus vaccines in the country, with 3,610,775 taking both doses.

Russia reports record jump in daily Covid deaths

Russia has confirmed a record daily number of 815 deaths caused by Covid-19 infections, raising the nationwide death toll to 168,864 on Friday.

The official monitoring and response centre said on Friday that the country's Covid-19 caseload grew by 22,277 to 6,557,068, while the number of recoveries increased by 19,368 to 5,848,340. The country's capital Moscow remains the worst-hit region, with 2,529 new cases, taking the city's total to 1,537,888. 

US reports jump in hospitalisation of young adults 

The recent Covid-19 hospitalisation rate among young American adults aged between 30 to 39 is the highest ever since the pandemic hit the US early last year, while that among seniors aged 70 and older is about a quarter of what it was this January, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Meanwhile, children account for a larger share of hospitalisations now than they did in January, as the rate among those under the age of 18 hovers right around the record high, Xinhua news agency quoted the CDC as saying in its latest update on Friday.

In a few states, including Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Louisiana, the number of children hospitalised with Covid-19 more than doubled over the past week, it said.

"Florida has the highest hospitalisation rate in the country," a CNN report said on Friday citing the latest data from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

More than 65 people are hospitalised with Covid-19 for every 100,000 people in Florida, about one out of every 1,500 state residents. Covid-19 hospitalisations across the US have been on the rise for more than a month.

At the current pace, with more than 2,500 patients added each day over the past week, the country will surpass January's record high in about a month, according to the CNN report.

Japan's daily Covid cases top 20,000 for 1st time

Japan's daily Covid-19 cases topped the 20,000-mark for the first time since the onset of the pandemic early last year, while Tokyo also reported a record-high number if single-day infections. 

Since mid-July, severe cases of COVID-19 patients have increased rapidly across Japan on the sidelines of the Olympics being held in the capital, Tokyo. 

The latest figures increased the country's overall case tally to 1,087,779, while the death toll stood at 15,358. The 5,773 new infections confirmed in Tokyo on Friday is the second time the daily figure topped 5,000. 

The new cases in Tokyo surpassed the previous high of 5,042 logged a week earlier. The number of severe cases in Tokyo also rose to a new record to 227 from the previous high of 218 logged earlier in the week.