As many as 100.9 million (100,982,773) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,170,989 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 73,002,497 cases of global recoveries. Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with over 100 million confirmed cases in 218 countries and more than 2.17 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 has recorded about 25 million cases and more than 420,000 deaths, the highest figures in the world. Daily cases were at record levels in early January but they are now falling. More than 100,000 coronavirus patients are in hospital, but those numbers are dropping too. Canada, which has a far lower death rate than the US, also experienced a winter surge but daily cases are also falling there now. Mexico's Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 7,165 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 1,743 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1,788,905 cases and 152,016 deaths. India and Brazil have the second and third highest case tallies, recording some 10.6 and 9 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 1,631 to 100,162, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Tuesday. As many as 20,089 more lab-confirmed cases raised the country's overall count to 3,690,000, according to the department's daily update. Recently, the British government declared that flights to and from Latin America's countries and Portugal are banned because of fears of the spread of new mutated strains of the coronavirus that appeared in Brazil. 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 17,741 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 3,774,672 after it crossed the 3.7 million mark. Russia's coronavirus crisis center said 594 coronavirus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the overall national coronavirus death toll was at 71,076. They added 27,922 people recovered from the virus, raising the total number of recoveries to 3,202,483. 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 982 deaths and 13,202 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said the country's death toll increased to 533,972 cases and the total confirmed cases those to 2,161,279. 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 Rome, Italy's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak hit 86,442 on Tuesday after 451 more people succumbed to the disease over the past 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed. Some 10,593 new cases were logged in the same period to raise the total in one of the world's worst-affected countries to over 2,486,000, according to government figures. It noted 19,256 people recovered from the virus in the past day. In Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Wednesday increased to 696,642 with 1,784 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They reported 65 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 20,879. In Madrid, the Spanish Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 591 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 36,435 more infections in the last 24 hours. The caseload has now surged to 2,629,817 and the death toll to 56,799 since the outbreak of the pandemic. In Amsterdam, The Netherlands has reported 35,635 new coronavirus cases in a week (Jan. 19-26), raising the total infections to 956.867. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, in its weekly reports on Tuesdays, reported 512 more deaths from COVID-19 raising the total death toll to 13,665. In Vienna, Austrian authorities announced Wednesday that they recorded 1,641 new coronavirus cases raising the total number of confirmed infections to 408,781. More than 386,000 cases have recovered Since the start of the pandemic, deaths have reached 7,564, said the country's Health Ministry. In Beijing, China Wednesday reported 75 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, and no virus-related deaths in the past 24 hours. The National Health Commission said total registered infections rose to 89,272 and fatalities remained at 4,636. It added 98 people have recovered from the virus and left hospitals in the past 24 hours to reach a total of 82,774. There are still 1,862 patients receiving treatment. In New Delhi, India said on Wednesday that 137 people died due to COVID-19 while 12,689 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 153,724 as the total number of positive cases mounted to 10,689,527. According to the ministry, 10,359,305 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 3,496 daily cases of novel coronavirus, raising the nation's total number 374,067, the Health Ministry and local authorities said. The country's cumulative death toll stood at 5,311. rose by 96 and stood at 5,311. Tokyo added 973 new infections, falling below 1,000 for the first time in two days, which brought the total cases in the Japanese capital to 96,507. 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 559 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, Yonhap reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total caseload at 76,429, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Seven people died in the past 24 hours raising the death toll to 1,378. Of the newly identified local infections, 120 cases were reported in Seoul and 137 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. Indonesia reported a record daily increase in coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, with 387 new fatalities, data from the country's COVID-19 task force showed. This brought the total number of deaths to 28,855. The Southeast Asian nation also recorded 11,948 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases to 1,024,298, Reuters reported. In Latin America, Brazil has more than nine 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 3.5 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 Tunis, Tunisia's Ministry of Health on Tuesday announced 83 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 2,026 more infections in 24 hours. The tally of confirmed deaths and infections rose to 6,370 and 200,662 respectively since the outbreak of the virus. Meanwhile, overall recoveries went up to 148,995. Meanwhile, Mauritania's Ministry of Health said Tuesday that 39 persons tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the country's caseload to 16,460. One more person died pushing the fatalities reached 418. Two more fatalities in the last 24 hours pushed the death toll from the viral illness to 405. The report said, 86 patients have been discharged from hospitals, raising the overall recoveries to 15,391 cases. — Agencies
