As many as 95.5 million (95,596,078) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,041,872 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 67,293,550 cases of global recoveries. Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with over 95 million confirmed cases in 218 countries and more than 2.04 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 198,218 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours as the confirmed cases nation-wide crossed 23 million. It also recorded 3,286 virus-related deaths according to Johns Hopkins University. The tally showed that the confirmed cases nationwide reached 23,754,315 and at least 395,785 deaths across US, with the country remaining the world's worst hit by the pandemic. Furthermore there were a record 126,139 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 671 to 89,261, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Sunday. As many as 38,598 more lab-confirmed cases raised the country's overall count to 3,390,000, 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 22,857 new coronavirus cases on Monday, including 3,679 in Moscow, taking the national tally - the world's fourth highest - to 3,591,066. Authorities said 471 people had died from the virus in the last 24 hours, pushing Russia's official death toll to 66,037. They added 18,333 people recovered from the virus, raising the total number of recoveries to 2,978,764. 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 Monday 214 deaths and 7,141 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said the country's death toll increased to 46,633 cases and the total confirmed cases those to 2,040,659. 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 Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Monday increased to 678,839 with 1,630 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They reported 39 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 20,435. In Amsterdam, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment Sunday reported that 5,622 new coronavirus cases were reported in the Netherlands raising the total number of infections to 912,913. Also around 43 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours raising the total deaths from COVID-19 to 13,011, said the institute. In Vienna, Austrian authorities announced Monday that they recorded 1,161 new coronavirus cases raising the total number of confirmed infections to 394,939. More than 370,000 cases have recovered Since the start of the pandemic, deaths have reached 7,120, said the country's Health Ministry. In New Delhi, India said on Monday that 145 people died due to COVID-19 while 13,788 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 152,419 as the total number of positive cases mounted to 10,571,773. According to the ministry, 10,211,342 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 Tokyo, Japan reported on Monday 1,927 daily cases of novel coronavirus, raising the nation's total number 332,471, the Health Ministry and local authorities said. The country's cumulative death toll stood at 4,534. In an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus variants, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures. It had suspended new entries of non-resident foreign nationals from around the world to Japan through Jan. 31. In Seoul, South Korea reported 389 new coronavirus cases Monday, Yonhap reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total caseload at 72,729, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Fifteen people died in the past 24 hours raising the death toll to 1,264. 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 Sunday said confirmed coronavirus cases had risen by 806 over the past 24 hours, while 31 more people succumbed to the disease to up the country's death toll to 7,942. The North African nation's caseload has reached 459,671 since the contagion came to light, according to the Health Ministry's data, 988 infected people have recovered which showed the tally of people who have recovered from the virus till date as 434,925. In Tunis, Tunisia's Ministry of Health on Sunday announced 76 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 2,859 more infections in 24 hours. The tally of confirmed deaths and infections rose to 5,692 and 180,090 respectively since the outbreak of the virus. Meanwhile, overall recoveries went up to 128,992. Meanwhile, Mauritania's Ministry of Health said Sunday that 40 persons tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the country's caseload to 16,039. One more fatality in the last 24 hours pushed the death toll from the viral illness to 402. The report said, 73 patients have been discharged from hospitals, raising the overall recoveries to 14,504 cases. — Agencies
