In yet another grim development, the total number of global coronavirus cases has topped the 95 million mark, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.02 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
In its latest update on Monday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 95,003,533 and 2,029,938, respectively.
The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 23,928,643 and 397,532, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in second place in terms of cases at 10,557,985, while the country's death toll soared to 152,274.
The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (8,488,099), Russia (3,530,379), the UK (3,405,740), France (2,969,091), Turkey (2,387,101), Italy (2,381,277), Spain (2,252,164), Germany (2,050,129), Colombia (1,908,413), Argentina (1,799,243), Mexico (1,630,258), Poland (1,435,582), South Africa (1,337,926), Iran (1,330,411), Ukraine (1,198,512) and Peru (1,060,567), the CSSE figures showed.
Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of fatalities at 209,847.
The countries with a death toll above 20,000 are Mexico (140,241), the UK (89,429), Italy (82,177), France (70,422), Russia (64,601), Iran (56,803), Spain (53,314), Colombia (48,631), Germany (46,781), Argentina (45,407), Peru (38,770), South Africa (37,105), Poland (33,355), Indonesia (25,987), Turkey (23,997), Ukraine (21,767) and Belgium (20,396).
Covid tongue
Meanwhile, an epidemiologist at King's College, London has claimed that there is an increase in the number of Covid patients suffering from uncomfortable mouth symptoms like oral ulcers - not yet listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the Covid-19 symptoms.
Professor Tim Spector said in a tweet that he has seen an increase in such patients. "One in five people with Covid still present with less common symptoms that don't get on the official PHE (Public Health England) list - such as skin rashes," Spector tweeted.
"Seeing increasing numbers of Covid tongues and strange mouth ulcers. If you have a strange symptom or even just headache and fatigue stay at home!" he added. There is no mention of oral symptoms listed either by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the WHO.
Spector is leading the 'ZOE COVID Symptom Study' app which allows people to sign up and self-report any of their Covid-19 symptoms. This is not the first time Covid-19 has been linked to mouth and tongue symptoms.
Last year, research in the Nature journal Evidence-Based Dentistry detailed three Covid-19 patients who experienced oral ulceration or blistering of the mouth. Another study in JAMA Dermatology looked at 21 Covid patients in Spain who had skin rashes and found six individuals (29 per cent) also presented with an oral rash.
Studies suggest that the mouth might be a vulnerable area to coronavirus due to the abundance of the ACE2 (angiotensin converting enzyme) receptor in oral tissue. According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Other symptoms include loss of taste or smell, aches and pains, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, red eyes, diarrhoea, or a skin rash.
