The global coronavirus caseload has topped 221 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.57 million and vaccinations soared to over 5.48 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and vaccination tally stood at 221,051,151, 4,574,419 and 5,489,941,974, respectively.
The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 40,018,268 and 649,319, respectively, according to the CSSE. In terms of infections, India follows in second place with 33,027,621 cases.
New Covid cases in US up 316% from last Labor Day
Daily Covid-19 cases in the US have increased more than four times that what the country witnessed on Labor Day last year, or a 316 per cent spike, and daily Covid-19-related deaths are twice as high, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.
Hospitalisations are also up by 158 per cent compared to Labor Day weekend a year ago, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Service.
According to the USA Today report, some hospitals in the country are getting so crowded with Covid-19 patients that physicians may soon be compelled to make life-or-death decisions on who gets an ICU bed. "Blame the highly contagious Delta variant and a swath of Americans refusing easily accessible vaccines that most of the developing world is furiously scrambling to obtain," it said.
Also on Monday, the US reached a grim milestone as the overall number of Covid-19 cases crossed the 40 million mark. According to figures from the Johns Hopkins University, the total caseload presently stood at 40,018,268, while the death toll surged to 649,319.
California topped the state-level caseload list, with 4,421,247 cases, while Texas came in second with 3,706,980 infections, followed by Florida (3,352,451), New York (2,304,955), and Illinois (1,538,324).
The US remains the nation worst hit by the pandemic, with the world's most cases and deaths, making up more than 18 per cent of the global caseload and nearly 14 per cent of the deaths. US Covid-19 caseload reached 10 million on November 9, 2020, crossed 20 million on January 1, 2021, and exceeded 30 million on March 24.
Other nations
The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are Brazil (20,899,933), the UK (7,051,362), Russia (6,929,862), France (6,924,325), Turkey (6,412,247), Argentina (5,207,695), Iran (5,156,986), Colombia (4,919,773), Spain (4,887,112), Italy (4,574,787), Indonesia (4,133,433), Germany (4,020,587) and Mexico (3,428,384), the CSSE figures showed.
In terms of deaths, Brazil comes second with 583,810 fatalities. Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are India (440,752), Mexico (263,140), Peru (198,488), Russia (184,672), Indonesia (136,473), the UK (133,598), Italy (129,567), Colombia (125,331), France (115,563), Argentina (112,673) and Iran (111,257).
Britain's Covid cases top 7 million
Britain has recorded more than 7 million Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest official data released on Monday. The country reported another 41,192 cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the national caseload to 7,018,921, official figures showed, Xinhua news agency reported.
The coronavirus-related death toll in the country rose by 45 to 133,274. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
The latest data came as a final decision on whether to vaccinate healthy children aged between 12 and 15 -- to be signed off by the chief medical officers of Britain's all four nations -- is expected this week, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi, has said parental consent will be required if the government decides all 12 to 15-year-olds should be offered the jab.
However, a senior doctor has suggested that a school nurse or general practitioner (GP) could assess whether a child is capable of consenting to having the vaccine, even if their parents oppose it. "Some children as young as 12 should be allowed to overrule their parents on whether they have the Covid vaccine," David Strain was quoted by Sky News as saying.
Previously, Britain's vaccine advisory body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), has issued the advice that children aged 12 to 15 with medical conditions should receive two Covid-19 vaccine doses, but that healthy children in this age group should still not receive the vaccine.
The JCVI's decision on healthy children was based on concerns over an extremely rare side effect of the Pfizer vaccine which causes heart inflammation, according to the BBC.
"This decision will disappoint many, as this age group is particularly socially active -- they have more contacts with other people than other age groups other than young adults," said Peter English, immediate past chair of the Public Health Medicine Committee of the British Medical Association.
"As such, they are particularly effective as 'vectors', transmitting the infection between households. Now that the much more infectious Delta variant is prevalent we will struggle to control the virus with vaccination alone -- and we certainly won't succeed if this age group is unvaccinated," said the retired consultant in Communicable Disease Control.
More than 88 per cent of people aged 16 and over in Britain have had their first vaccine dose and nearly 80 per cent have received both, according to the latest figures.
(With inputs from IANS)
