Global Covid caseload tops 268.4 mn

Washington, Dec 10 (IANS) The global coronavirus caseload has topped 268.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.28 million and vaccinations to over 8.32 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 268,484,455 and 5,286,786, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 8,324,131,954.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 49,660,358 and 794,647, according to the CSSE.

The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (34,666,241 infections and 474,111 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,177,091 infections and 616,457 deaths).

The other countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (10,722,083), Russia (9,752,340), Turkey (8,986,377), France (8,209,911), Germany (6,404,622), Iran (6,147,872), Argentina (5,350,867), Spain (5,273,178), Italy (5,164,780) and Colombia (5,088,008), the CSSE figures showed.

The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Mexico (295,894), Russia (280,427), Peru (201,490), the UK (146,592), Indonesia (143,918), Italy (134,551), Iran (130,524), Colombia (128,969), France (121,153), Argentina (116,719) and Germany (104,679).