As many as 112 million (112,041,186) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,479,452 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 87,405,673 cases of global recoveries. Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with over 100 million confirmed cases in 218 countries and more than 2.47 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 28 million cases (28,734,397) and more than 500,704 deaths, the highest figures in the world. Daily cases were at record levels in early January but they are now falling. Canada, which has a far lower death rate than the US, also experienced a winter surge but daily cases are also falling there now. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told NBC network, "We are still at about 100,000 cases a day. We are still at around 1,500 to 3,500 deaths per day. The cases are more than two-and-a half fold times what we saw over the summer. It's encouraging to see these trends coming down, but they're coming down from an extraordinarily high police." India and Brazil have the second and third highest case tallies, recording some 11 and 9.8 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 215 to 120,580, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Sunday. As many as 19,834 more lab-confirmed cases raised the country's overall count to 4,511,000, 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. All passengers to Britain must have a document valid up to 72 hours free of coronavirus. In Moscow, Russia reported 12,604 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 4,177,330 after it crossed the 4 million mark. Russia's coronavirus crisis center said 337 coronavirus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the overall national coronavirus death toll was at 83,630. They added 12,943 people recovered from the virus, raising the total number of recoveries to 3,726,388. 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 62 deaths and 4,369 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said the country's death toll increased to 67,903 cases and the total confirmed cases those to 2,390,928. 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 22,046 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Sunday. France's cumulative total of cases now stands at 3,605,181. The COVID-19 death toll was up by 159 to 84,306. France announced its approval of the use of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and to include it in its vaccine program. In Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Monday increased to 754,473 with 2,094 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They reported 16 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 21,903. In Beijing, China Monday reported 11 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 89,842 and fatalities remained at 4,636. It added 33 people have recovered from the virus and left hospitals in the past 24 hours to reach a total of 84,805. There are still 401 patients receiving treatment. In New Delhi, India said on Monday that 83 people died due to COVID-19 while 14,199 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 156,385 as the total number of positive cases mounted to 11,005,850. According to the ministry, 10,699,410 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 245 daily cases of novel coronavirus, raising the nation's total number 425,845, the Health Ministry and local authorities said. The country's cumulative death toll stood at 7,499. rose by 94 and stood at 7,155. Tokyo added 178 new infections, staying below 200 for the first time since Nov. 24, which brought the total cases in the Japanese capital to 109,912. 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 332 new coronavirus cases Monday, Yonhap reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total caseload at 87,324, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Five people died in the past 24 hours raising the death toll to 1,562. Of the newly identified local infections, 102 cases were reported in Seoul and 116 cases in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital. Authorities on Monday lowered the social distancing to level 2 — the third highest in the five-tier system — for the Greater Seoul metropolitan area and level 1.5 for the rest of the country, effective two weeks. A ban on private gatherings of five or more people remains in place, while re8unions of immediate family members are allowed.. In Latin America, Brazil has more than nine million confirmed cases (9,800,000) and the world's second highest death toll (238,532). 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 3.8 million cases, but the true extent of the pandemic there is not known as testing rates are low. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and prevention in Africa announced Sunday that the tally of cases surpassed 3,809,172 throughout Africa. Moreover the COVID-19 death toll reached about 100,674 cases, said Africa CDC. 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 Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population said on Sunday that 608 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 55 patients died over the past 24 hours. The figures took the country's tally to 178,151 infections and 10,353 deaths the ministry said. Another 543 patients have been discharged from the hospitals, bringing the overall recoveries to 137,837. In Tunis, Tunisia's Ministry of Health on Sunday announced 38 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 719 more infections in 24 hours. The tally of confirmed deaths and infections rose to 7,793 and 228,362 respectively since the outbreak of the virus. Meanwhile, overall recoveries went up to 188,607. Meanwhile, Mauritania's Ministry of Health said Sunday that 12 persons tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the country's caseload to 17,095 while pushing the fatalities reached 434. The report said, 20 patients have been discharged from hospitals, raising the overall recoveries to 16,396 cases. — Agencies
