The global coronavirus caseload has topped 489.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.14 million and vaccinations to over 10.97 billion, while South Korea reported less than 300,000 cases for the second consecutive day, reports said.
In its latest update on Saturday morning, the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 489,488,932 and 6,147,938, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 10,975,008,376.
The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 80,40,160 and 982,334, according to the CSSE. India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,025,775.
South Korea records less than 300K
South Korea's new daily Covid-19 cases remained below 300,000 for the second consecutive day on Saturday as the Omicron variant was spreading at a slower pace after peaking out in March.
The country reported 264,171 new Covid-19 infections, including 68 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 13,639,915, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
South Korea has seen a downward trend in new cases in recent weeks, with an all-time high of over 620,000 on March 17 dipping to a nearly one-month low of 187,182 on Monday.
A total of 339 died of Covid-19, raising the total deaths to 16,929. The fatality rate stood at 0.12 per cent. The number of critically ill patients fell to 1,165 Saturday from the record high of 1,315 the previous day.
Other countries:
The other countries with over 10 million cases are Brazil (29,951,670) France (25,952,226), Germany (21,454,400), the UK (21,379,531), Russia (17,601,907), Turkey (14,873,927), Italy (14,719,394), South Korea (13,639,915) and Spain (11,551,574), the CSSE figures showed.
The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Brazil (660,022), India (521,181), Russia (361,679), Mexico (323,016), Peru (212,222), the UK (166,186), Italy (159,537), Indonesia (155,164), France (143,441), Iran (140,240), Colombia (139,636), Germany (129,786), Argentina (128,019), Poland (115,247), Ukraine (112,459) and Spain (102,541).
(With inputs from IANS)
