As many as 117.3 million (117,313,983) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,602,812 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 92,812,326 cases of global recoveries. Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with over 100 million confirmed cases in 218 countries and more than 2.6 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 nearly 30 million cases and more than 537,410 deaths, the highest figures in the world. Daily cases were at record levels in early January but they have fallen substantially in the last few weeks. Canada, which has a far lower death rate than the US, also experienced a winter surge but daily cases have also been falling recently. The US recorded Saturday 29,672,791 total coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours as the confirmed cases nation-wide crossed 29 million. The tally showed that the confirmed cases nationwide reached 28,381,220 and 20,288,488 people recovered. India and Brazil have the second and third highest case tallies, recording some 11 and 10.6 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 10,595 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 4,322,776 after it crossed the 4 million mark. Russia's coronavirus crisis center said 368 coronavirus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the overall national coronavirus death toll was at 89,094. They added 11,576 people recovered from the virus, raising the total number of recoveries to 3,911,924. 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 Paris, the French Health Ministry reported 23,306 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Saturday. France's cumulative total of cases now stands at 3,882,408. The COVID-19 death toll was up by 170 to 88,440. France announced 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 99,785 on Sunday after 207 more people succumbed to the disease over the past 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed. Some 20,765 new cases were logged in the same period to raise the total in one of the world's worst-affected countries to over 3,067,486, according to government figures. In Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Sunday increased to 785,809 with 2,799 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They reported 25 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 22,240. In Amsterdam, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment Sunday that 5,567 new coronavirus cases were reported in the Netherlands raising the total number of infections to 1,121,356. Also around 30 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours raising the total deaths from COVID-19 to 15,834, said the institute. In Vienna, Austrian authorities announced Sunday that they recorded 2,199 new coronavirus cases raising the total number of confirmed infections to 475,070. More than 443,000 cases have recovered Since the start of the pandemic, deaths have reached 8,713, said the country's Health Ministry. In Beijing, China Sunday reported 13 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 89,975 and fatalities remained at 4,636. It added 13 people have recovered from the virus and left hospitals in the past 24 hours to reach a total of 85,166. There are still 173 patients receiving treatment. In New Delhi, India said on Sunday that 100 people died due to COVID-19 while 18,711 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 157,756 as the total number of positive cases mounted to 11,210,799. According to the ministry, 10,868,520 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 399 new coronavirus cases Sunday, Yonhap reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total caseload to 92,471, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Two people died in the past 24 hours raising the death toll to 1,634. Authorities recently 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. In Mexico City, Mexico's Health Ministry on Saturday reported 6,561 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country and 779 fatalities, bringing its total to 2,125,866 infections and 190,357 deaths. Officials have been frustrated by bottlenecks in the vaccine supply and raised concerns that wealthy countries are hoarding vaccines against COVID-19. Mexico has so far administered roughly 2.7 million vaccine doses, enough for about 1.1% of the population. 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 Saturday that 588 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 38 patients died over the past 24 hours. The figures took the country's tally to 185,922 infections and 10,954 deaths the ministry said. Another 432 patients have been discharged from the hospitals, bringing the overall recoveries to 143,575. In Tunis, Tunisia's Ministry of Health on Saturday announced 37 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 672 more infections in 24 hours. The tally of confirmed deaths and infections rose to 8,167 and 237,028 respectively since the outbreak of the virus. Meanwhile, overall recoveries went up to 202,123. — Agencies
