Global Covid caseload tops 274.6 mn

Washington, Dec 20 (IANS) The global coronavirus caseload has topped 274.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.35 million and vaccinations to over 8.68 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Monday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 274,692,249 and 5,354,148, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 8,680,566,482.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 50,846,828 and 806,439, according to the CSSE.

The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (34,740,275 infections and 477,422 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,213,762 infections and 617,803 deaths).

The other countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (11,425,657), Russia (10,037,546), Turkey (9,173,089), France (8,730,140), Germany (6,812,746), Iran (6,170,979), Spain (5,455,527), Argentina (5,389,707), Italy (5,389,155) and Colombia (5,107,323), the CSSE figures showed.

The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Mexico (297,835), Russia (291,336), Peru (202,154), the UK (147,679), Indonesia (144,002), Italy (135,641), Iran (131,083), Colombia (129,458), France (122,478), Argentina (116,903) and Germany (108,285).