As many as 95 million (95,053,496) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,032,904 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 67,8954,438 cases of global recoveries. Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with over 95 million confirmed cases in 218 countries and more than 2.03 million deaths. The virus is surging in many regions and countries that had apparent success in suppressing initial outbreaks are also seeing infections rise again. The US recorded Sunday 209,560 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours as the confirmed cases nation-wide crossed 23 million. It also recorded 3,258 virus-related deaths according to Johns Hopkins University. The tally showed that the confirmed cases nationwide reached 23,524,081 and at least 391,955 deaths across US, with the country remaining the world's worst hit by the pandemic. Furthermore there were a record 127,235 people currently hospitalized for coronavirus in the US, according to COVID Tracking Project. The US ranks first globally in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths. India and Brazil have the second and third highest case tallies, recording some 10.5 and 8 million cases respectively. Infections have been reported in more than 218 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. Daily cases have now fallen in many European countries after steep rises in October. Lockdowns and other restrictions were reintroduced in some of the worst-affected regions to help bring numbers down. In London, Britain said that the death toll from coronavirus has risen by 1,295 to 88,590, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Saturday. As many as 41,346 more lab-confirmed cases raised the country's overall count to 3,357,000, according to the department's daily update. On Thursday, the British government declared that flights to and from Latin America's countries and Portugal are banned as of Friday because of fears of the spread of new mutated strains of the coronavirus that appeared in Brazil. Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps affirmed in a press statement that the ban suspends flights to and from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Banana, Paraguay, Peru and others. As of next Monday, all passengers to Britain must have a document valid up to 72 hours free of coronavirus. In Moscow, Russia reported 23,586 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 3,568,209 after it crossed the 3.5 million mark. Russia's coronavirus crisis center said 481 coronavirus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the overall national coronavirus death toll was at 65,566. They added 23,440 people recovered from the virus, raising the total number of recoveries to 2,960,431. The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Russia on Jan. 31, 2020 when two Chinese citizens in Tyumen (Siberia) and Chita (Russia Far east) tested positive for the virus. In Berlin, German health authorities reported on Sunday 445 deaths and 13,882 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said the country's death toll increased to 46,419 cases and the total confirmed cases those to 2,033,518. Germany responded to the second wave of the deadly pandemic by shutting hospitality businesses as well as leisure and sports facilities. Schools and non-essential shops have, however, remained open. In Paris, the French Health Ministry reported 21,406 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Saturday. France's cumulative total of cases now stands at 2,894,347. The COVID-19 death toll was up by 193 at 70,142. France announced last Friday its approval of the use of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and to include it in its vaccine program. In Rome, Italy's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak hit 781,800 on Saturday after 475 more people succumbed to the disease over the past 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed. Some 16,130 new cases were logged in the same period to raise the total in one of the world's worst-affected countries to over 2,300,000, according to government figures. It noted 16,186 people recovered from the virus in the past day, taking the tally to more than 2,700,000 recoveries since the outbreak of the pandemic. In Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Sunday increased to 677,209 with 2,120 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They reported 44 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 20,396. In Amsterdam, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment Saturday reported that 5,340 new coronavirus cases were reported in the Netherlands raising the total number of infections to 907,291. Also around 98 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours raising the total deaths from COVID-19 to 12,968, said the institute. In Vienna, Austrian authorities announced Sunday that they recorded 1,267 new coronavirus cases raising the total number of confirmed infections to 393,778. More than 369,000 cases have recovered Since the start of the pandemic, deaths have reached 7,082, said the country's Health Ministry. In Beijing, China Sunday reported 109 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, 13 of them came from abroad, but did not register any virus-related deaths. The National Health Commission said total registered infections rose to 88,227 and fatalities remained at 4,635. It added 17 people have recovered from the virus and left hospitals in the past 24 hours to reach a total of 82,387. There are still 1,205 patients receiving treatment. In New Delhi, India said on Sunday that 181 people died due to COVID-19 while 15,144 new cases of the coronavirus were registered in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that fatalities due to COVID-19 rose to 152,274 as the total number of positive cases mounted to 10,557,985. According to the ministry, 10,196,885 people recuperated from the pandemic as it spread to 35 states. India has the world's second-highest caseload, but daily infections have dipped steadily since hitting a peak in September. In Seoul, South Korea reported Saturday 580 more COVID-19 cases, including 547 local infections, raising the total caseload to 71,820, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Yonhap News Agency reported. Saturday's daily number marked a slight increase from 512 posted a day earlier, the KDCA said. The government extended the current level 2.5 distancing measures in the capital area and Level 2 restrictions in the rest of the country until Jan. 17. South Korea is grappling to contain yet another wave of virus infections with the toughest social distancing rules banning gatherings of five or more people. In Latin America, Brazil has more than eight million confirmed cases and the world's second highest death toll. The country is currently seeing a second surge in infections. Brazil ranks third in terms of infection numbers globally, behind the United States and India. On fatalities, Brazil ranks second behind the US. Argentina, Colombia and Mexico have also recorded more than one million cases and all three countries are still seeing very high numbers of daily confirmed cases. Peru is also approaching the milestone of one million cases, although daily cases are falling. The country has one of the highest deaths rates in the world. Africa has recorded more than three million cases, but the true extent of the pandemic there is not known as testing rates are low. Concern is growing about a South African variant of the disease which is thought to share some similarities with the new UK strain, including being more easily transmissible. South Africa, with more than 1.2 million cases and more than 30,000 deaths, is the worst affected country on the continent. Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Nigeria are the other African countries to officially record more than 100,000 cases. Kenya is the only other country with close to 100,000 cases. In Rabat, Morocco on Saturday said confirmed coronavirus cases had risen by 1,240 over the past 24 hours, while 23 more people succumbed to the disease to up the country's death toll to 7,911. The North African nation's caseload has reached 458,865 since the contagion came to light, according to the Health Ministry's data, 1,361 infected people have recovered which showed the tally of people who have recovered from the virus till date as 433,937. In Tunis, Tunisia's Ministry of Health on Saturday announced 88 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 2,166 more infections in 24 hours. The tally of confirmed deaths and infections rose to 5,616 and 177,231 respectively since the outbreak of the virus. Meanwhile, overall recoveries went up to 127,854. — Agencies
