The global coronavirus caseload has topped 257.5 million while the deaths have surged to more than 5.15 million and vaccinations to over 7.39 billion, 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, death toll and the total number number of vaccine doses administered stood at 257,520,965, 5,150,520 and 7,392,037,014, respectively.
The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 47,730,591 and 771,118, according to the CSSE.
The delta variant now represents 99 per cent of all sequenced Covid-19 cases across the globe, making it most prevalent than any other strain, officials from the World Health Organization said.
The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (34,510,413 infections and 465,662 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,017,276 infections and 612,659 deaths).
The Region of the Americas, the European and the Western Pacific Regions all reported increases in new weekly cases as compared to the previous week, while all other regions reported stable or declining trends.
UK records another 40K cases
Britain registered 40,004 new Covid-19 infections, bringing the national tally to 9,845,492, according to official figures released.
The country also reported 61 more coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 143,927, with 8,079 Covid-19 patients still hospitalized.
The latest data came as Health Secretary Sajid Javid said England is not close to moving to the government's Plan B of restrictions, while countries in Europe face tightened measures involving lockdowns and vaccine mandates due to a spike in cases.
Plan B involves advice to work at home and mask use requirements in certain scenarios, Xinhua news agency reported. However, Chris Hopson, Chief Executive of National Health Service (NHS) Providers, has said the service is under an "unprecedented degree of pressure" for this time of year.
More than 88 per cent of people aged 12 years and above in Britain have had their first vaccine dose and more than 80 per cent have received both, according to the latest figures. Meanwhile, some 26 per cent have received a booster jab, or the third vaccine dose.
Turkey confirms 21K cases
Turkey has reported 21,177 new Covid-19 cases, raising its total tally of infections to 8,571,554, according to its Health Ministry. The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 195 to 75,042, while 34,290 more people recovered in the last 24 hours.
A total of 350,163 tests were conducted on Saturday, the Ministry said. Turkey started mass Covid-19 vaccination on January 14, 2021 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, Xinhua news agency reported.
More than 56.03 million people have received their first doses of vaccine, while more than 50.03 million had their second doses. Turkey has so far administered more than 119.32 million doses, including the third booster jabs.
Other Countries
The other worst countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (9,897,206), Russia (9,170,898), Turkey (8,573,524), France (7,517,669), Iran (6,077,438), Germany (5,378,192), Argentina (5,315,348), Spain (5,080,663) and Colombia (5,048,061), the CSSE figures showed.
Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Mexico (292,372), Russia (259,107), Peru (200,833), , the UK (144,369), Indonesia (143,709), Italy (133,177), Iran (128,956), Colombia (128,093), France (119,424) and Argentina (116,377).
(With inputs from IANS)
