Online Desk:
The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 249 million amid the global race to vaccinate masses against the infectious disease.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 249,087,384 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,037,731, on Saturday morning.
The US has recorded 46,435,555 cases to date and more than 753,900 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.
In the US, winter is coming and diseases like Covid-19 often spread easier with people indoors and closer together. The worst surge in the nation happened last winter, before the vaccines were widely available, reports AP.
While cases around the world are declining, the World Health Organization said this week new cases jumped by 6% in Europe, compared with an 18% increase the previous week.
The number of Americans in the hospital with Covid-19 is averaging around 42,000, the lowest number since the beginning of August, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But deaths, which lag behind increasing case counts because it can take weeks for the disease to kill, continue to mount. The US is averaging 1,100 coronavirus deaths per day, down from more than 1,600 two weeks ago.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 21,862,458 cases as of Friday, while its Covid death toll rose to 609,060.
India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 34,333,754 on Friday, as 12,729 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.
Besides, as many as 221 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Thursday morning, taking the total death toll to 459,873.
