The global coronavirus caseload has topped 223 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.60 million with the US remaining the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 40,600,763 and 654,576 respectively, according to the CSSE.
In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 33,139,981 cases. The worldwide vaccinations soared to over 5.59 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and vaccination tally stood at 223,100,992, 4,604,426 and 5,597,039,397, respectively.
The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are Brazil (20,958,899), the UK (7,165,121), Russia (6,982,628), France (6,962,917), Turkey (6,590,384), Iran (5,237,799), Argentina (5,218,993), Colombia (4,925,000), Spain (4,903,021), Italy (4,590,941), Indonesia (4,153,355), Germany (4,058,956) and Mexico (3,465,171), the CSSE figures showed.
In terms of deaths, Brazil comes second with 585,174 fatalities. Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are India (441,749), Mexico (265,420), Peru (198,621), Russia (186,999), Indonesia (138,116), the UK (134,166), Italy (129,766), Colombia (125,480), France (115,938), Argentina (113,099) and Iran (112,935).
S. Korea reports 1,892 more Covid-19 cases
South Korea reported 1,892 fresh cases of Covid-19 compared to the previous tally, raising the total number of infections to 269,362. The daily caseload was down from 2,049 in the prior day, but it hovered above 1,000 for 66 straight days, Xinhua news agency reported.
The daily average tally for the past week was 1,751. The recent resurgence was attributable to cluster infections in the Seoul metropolitan area. Of the new cases, 666 were Seoul residents. The number of the newly infected people residing in Gyeonggi province and the western port city of Incheon was 603 and 117, respectively.
The virus spread also raged in the non-metropolitan region. The number of new infections in the non-capital areas was 471, or 25.4 per cent of the total local transmission. Thirty-five cases were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 13,866.
Five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 2,348. The total fatality rate stood at 0.87 per cent. A total of 1,813 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 240,733. The total recovery rate was 89.37 per cent.
Since the mass vaccination was launched on February 26, the country has administered Covid-19 vaccines to a total of 32,149,176 people, or 62.6 per cent of the total population. The number of the fully vaccinated people was 19,406,809, or 37.8 per cent of the population.
Iran reports 26,821 new Covid-19 cases, 5,237,799 in total
Iran has reported 26,821 new Covid-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 5,237,799.
According to a briefing published by Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education on its official website on Thursday, the pandemic has claimed 112,935 lives in the country so far, after 505 new deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, Xinhua news agency reported.
A total of 4,481,814 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,486 remain in intensive care units, the ministry said on its official website.
By Thursday, 21,128,929 people have received a dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the country, while 11,280,698 have taken two doses. The official report adds that 29,904,111 tests have so far been carried out across the country.
Africa's Covid-19 cases surpass 7.97 mn: Africa CDC
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said that the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa have reached 7,973,133.
The Africa CDC, the specialised healthcare agency of the African Union, said that the death toll from the pandemic across the continent stood at 201,340 as of Thursday evening, Xinhua news agency reported.
Some 7,209,766 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease so far. South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Ethiopia are among the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the agency.
In terms of the caseload, southern Africa is the most affected region, followed by the northern and eastern parts of the continent, while central Africa is the least affected region in the continent, according to the Africa CDC.
(With inputs from IANS)
