As many as 96.7 million (96,727,834) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,068,306 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 69,425,841 cases of global recoveries. Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with over 96 million confirmed cases in 218 countries and more than 2.06 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 Tuesday 137,885 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours as the confirmed cases nation-wide crossed 24 million. It also recorded 1,381 virus-related deaths according to Johns Hopkins University. The tally showed that the confirmed cases nationwide reached 24,074,657 and at least 398,981 deaths across US, with the country remaining the world's worst hit by the pandemic. Furthermore there were a record 123,848 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 Moscow, Russia reported 21,152 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 3,633,952 after it crossed the 3.6 million mark. Russia's coronavirus crisis center said 597 coronavirus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the overall national coronavirus death toll was at 67,220. They added 25,299 people recovered from the virus, raising the total number of recoveries to 3,027,316. 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 Wednesday 1,148 deaths and 15,974 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said the country's death toll increased to 48,770 cases and the total confirmed cases those to 2,068,002. 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 23,606 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Tuesday. France's cumulative total of cases now stands at 2,90,000. The COVID-19 death toll was up by 441 at 71,342. 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 83,157 on Tuesday after 603 more people succumbed to the disease over the past 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed. Some 10,497 new cases were logged in the same period to raise the total in one of the world's worst-affected countries to over 2,400,000, according to government figures. It noted 22,699 people recovered from the virus in the past day, taking the tally to more than 1,800,000 recoveries since the outbreak of the pandemic. In Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Wednesday increased to 681,250 with 1,479 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They reported 82 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 20,554. In Madrid, the Spanish Health Ministry on Tuesday reported new 404 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 34,291 more infections in the last 24 hours. The caseload has now surged to 2,370,000 and the death toll to 54,173 since the outbreak of the pandemic. In Amsterdam, The Netherlands has reported 38,776 new coronavirus cases in a week (Jan. 13-19), raising the total infections to 921.580. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, in its weekly reports on Tuesdays, reported 608 more deaths from COVID-19 raising the total death toll to 13,162. In Beijing, China reported 103 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours. The National Health Commission, in a statement, said that the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China now stands at 88,557, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,635. In New Delhi, India said on Wednesday that 162 people died due to COVID-19 while 13,823 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 152,718 as the total number of positive cases mounted to 10,595,660. According to the ministry, 10,245,741 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 Wednesday 5,372 daily cases of novel coronavirus, raising the nation's total number 343,100, the Health Ministry and local authorities said. The country's cumulative death toll rose by 106 and stood at 4,709. Tokyo added 1,274 new infections, topping 1,000 for the eighth straight day, which brought the total cases in the Japanese capital to 89,188. 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 404 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, Yonhap reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total caseload at 73,518, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Seventeen people died in the past 24 hours raising the death toll to 1,300. Of the newly identified local infections, 135 cases were reported in Seoul and 126 cases in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital. 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 Tuesday said confirmed coronavirus cases had risen by 1,246 over the past 24 hours, while 34 more people succumbed to the disease to up the country's death toll to 8,011. The North African nation's caseload has reached 461,390 since the contagion came to light, according to the Health Ministry's data, 940 infected people have recovered which showed the tally of people who have recovered from the virus till date as 436,626. In Tunis, Tunisia's Ministry of Health on Tuesday announced 58 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 1,795 more infections in 24 hours. The tally of confirmed deaths and infections rose to 5,750 and 181,885 respectively since the outbreak of the virus. Meanwhile, overall recoveries went up to 131,019. In Khartoum, Sudan registered on Tuesday 1,215 new positive cases of coronavirus and 54 new death cases in the past 24 hours. According to the Sudanese Health Ministry, the total number of positive cases increased to 27,494, fatalities to 1,657 deaths, while the total number of recoveries reached 17,209. Meanwhile, Mauritania's Ministry of Health said Tuesday that 66 persons tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the country's caseload to 16,147. Two more fatalities in the last 24 hours pushed the death toll from the viral illness to 405. The report said, 124 patients have been discharged from hospitals, raising the overall recoveries to 14,729 cases. — Agencies
