As many as 66.9 million (66,972,138) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,536,693 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 46,353,167 cases of global recoveries. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. The US has recorded more than 14 million cases and nearly 270,000 deaths from coronavirus, the highest figures in the world. Daily cases have been at record levels since early November and there are now almost 100,000 people in hospital, more than in either of the two previous peaks of the pandemic. The United States reported 1 million COVID-19 cases in the first five days of December, and more than 200,000 daily cases for the fourth consecutive day. Experts say these coming months will be a "worst-case scenario" in the US before we reach the light at the end of the tunnel. Canada reported an additional 6,346 new infections of the novel coronavirus Saturday as several provinces broke new case and fatality records amid the second wave of the pandemic. The new data, which includes another 93 fatalities from the virus, pushes the country's total cases to 408,569 and its death toll to 12,589. A total of 324,800 patients have since recovered while over 15,283,000 tests have been administered. Saturday's numbers provide a limited snapshot of the virus in Canada. Provinces like P.E.I. and British Columbia as well as both the Yukon and Northwest Territories do not report new case data over the weekend. As the number of COVID-19 cases surges, hospitalizations and deaths also continue to grip communities across the country. In Moscow, Russia reported a record high of 29,039 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, taking the national total to 2,460,770 since the pandemic began, according to Reuters. Authorities confirmed 457 deaths related to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing the official national death toll to 43,141. In Paris, French health authorities reported a further fall in daily hospital deaths from COVID-19 today, on Saturday and said the total number of hospital admissions due to the disease had also declined over the past 24 hours, Reuters reported. There were 12,923 new confirmed cases on Saturday, higher than Friday's total and bucking a general month-long downward trend. There were 216 deaths in hospital in the past day, taking the total number of lives lost to COVID-19 in France to 54,981. A little over 26,000 COVID-19 patients are now in hospital. In Berlin, Germany announced on Sunday that COVID-19 killed 255 people and infected 17,767 others in the past 24 hours. According to Robert Koch Institute for infectious disease, deaths rose up to 18,772 while total infections reached 1,171,322 cases. In Rome, Italy reported 662 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 814 the day before, the Health Ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 21,052 from 24,099, Reuters reported. The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has seen 59,514 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain. It has also registered 1.71 million cases to date. There were 194,984 swabs carried out in the past day, down from a previous 212,741, the ministry said. In Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Sunday increased to 589,942 with 2,485 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. Up to 112 more deaths from COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 17,254. In New Delhi, Indian health authorities said on Sunday that 482 people died due to COVID-19 as 36,011 positive cases were registered from across the country in a span od 24 hours. The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said the deaths due to the coronavirus rose to 140,182 as the total number of positive cases amounted to 9,644,222, According to the ministry, 9,100,792 people recuperated from the pandemic as it spread to 35 Indian states. In Tunis, Tunisia's Ministry of Health said Saturday, that 1,091 people contracted the coronavirus over the past 24 hours bringing the overall infections to 102,992. Forty-five more patients succumbed to the illness, raising the country's death toll to 3,526. The recoveries went up to 76,441, it added. In Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population said on Saturday that 431 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 18 patients died over the past 24 hours. The figures took the country's tally to 118,014 infections and 6,750 deaths the ministry said. Another 133 patients have been discharged from the hospitals, bringing the overall recoveries to 103,324. — Agencies
