(Reuters) – Global coronavirus cases exceeded 100 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters count, as countries around the world struggle with new virus variants and vaccine deficits.
Almost 1.3% of the world’s population has already been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and more than 2.1 million people have died.
One person has been infected every 7.7 seconds, on average, since the beginning of the year. About 668,250 cases were reported each day during the same period, and the overall mortality rate is 2.15%.
The most affected countries – the United States, India, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom – account for more than half of all reported COVID-19 cases, but represent 28% of the global population, according to an analysis by Reuters.
It took the world 11 months to register the first 50 million cases of the pandemic, compared with just three months for cases to double to 100 million. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
About 56 countries have started vaccinating people against the coronavirus, administering at least 64 million doses. Israel leads the world in vaccination per capita, inoculating 29% of its population with at least one dose.
U.S
With more than 25 million cases, the United States has 25% of all reported COVID cases, although they represent only 4% of the world population. The United States leads the world in the average daily number of new reported deaths, accounting for one in five reported deaths worldwide each day. With just under 425,000 deaths, the United States reported almost twice as many deaths as Brazil, which has the second highest number of deaths in the world.
As the most affected region in the world, Europe is currently reporting one million new infections every four days and almost 30 million since the start of the pandemic. Britain on Tuesday reached 100,000 deaths.
The Eastern European region, including countries like Russia, Poland and Ukraine, accounts for almost 10% of all global cases of COVID-19.
Despite closing deals for vaccine supply early, many European countries are experiencing delays in shipments from Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc
ASIA AND AFRICA
In India, the second country with the second highest number of cases, infections are decreasing, with almost 13,700 new infections reported on average each day – about 15% of the peak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that India is fully self-sufficient in providing coronavirus vaccines, as the world’s second most populous country inoculated more than 1 million people in a week after its campaign began. .
China, which recently marked the first anniversary of the world’s first coronavirus blockade in central Wuhan, is facing its worst wave of local cases since March last year.
As wealthier nations move forward with mass vaccination campaigns, Africa is still struggling to secure supplies, while addressing concerns about the most infectious variants of the virus first identified in South Africa and Britain.
According to the Reuters count, African countries have about 3.5 million cases and more than 85,000 deaths.
The South African variant, also known as 501Y.V2, is 50% more infectious and has been detected in at least 20 countries.
US President Joe Biden will impose a ban on most non-US citizens entering the country who have recently been in South Africa as of Saturday, in an attempt to stem the spread of a new variant of COVID-19 .
Australia and New Zealand fared better than most other developed economies during the pandemic through rapid border closures, roadblocks, strict hotel quarantine for travelers and widespread testing and social detachment.
“We have the virus under control here in Australia, but we want to launch the vaccine,” Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg told a news conference on Sunday.
Reporting by Shaina Ahluwalia and Roshan Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Jane Wardell