As many as 83.2 million (83,208,996) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,815,312 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 59,020,025 cases of global recoveries. Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with over 83 million confirmed cases in 190 countries and more than 1.81 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 recorded 247,646 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and 3,725 virus-related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday. The tally showed that the confirmed cases nationwide reached 19,557,147 and at least 338,663 deaths across US, with the country remaining the world's worst hit by the pandemic. Furthermore there were a record 124,686 people currently hospitalized for coronavirus in the US, according to COVID Tracking Project. The US ranks first globally in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths. Meanwhile, a congressman-elect from Louisiana Luke Letlow died of coronavirus after testing positive a month ago. He was expected to be sworn into Congress next week. Local health officials in the western state of Colorado on Tuesday announced the United States' first known case of a potentially more transmissible coronavirus variant spreading in Britain. A man in his 20s, who has no travel history, was confirmed to have contracted the virus variant and is recovering in isolation, the office of the state governor said in a press release. "The individual has no close contacts identified so far, but public health officials are working to identify other potential cases and contacts through thorough contact tracing interviews," it said. India and Brazil have the second and third highest case tallies, recording some 10.2 and 7.5 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 London, Britain said that the death toll from coronavirus has risen by 981 to 72,548, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Wednesday. As many as 50,023 more lab-confirmed cases raised the country's overall count to nearly 2,432,000, according to the department's daily update. In Moscow, Russia reported 27,747 new coronavirus cases on THursday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 3,159,297 after it crossed the 3 million mark. Russia's coronavirus crisis center said 593 coronavirus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the overall national coronavirus death toll was at 57,019. 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 Berlin, German health authorities reported on Thursday 964 deaths and 32,552 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said the country's death toll increased to 33,071 cases and the total confirmed cases those to 1,719,737. Germany responded to the second wave of the deadly pandemic by shutting hospitality businesses as well as leisure and sports facilities. Schools and non-essential shops have, however, remained open. In Paris, French health authorities reported 26,457 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Wednesday, up sharply from 11,395 on Tuesday, and a level unseen since Nov. 18, raising the country's caseload to 2,600,498. The ministry said the virus-induced deaths increased by 303 to 64,381. Earlier, the French government said it was weighing the viability of imposing a third nationwide lockdown to curb the outbreak of the pandemic. France launched its vaccination campaign on Sunday along with most other EU countries. In Rome, Italy's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak hit 73,604 on Wednesday after 575 more people succumbed to the disease over the past 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed. Some 16,202 new cases were logged in the same period to raise the total in one of the world's worst-affected countries to 2,083,689, according to government figures. In Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Thursday increased to 644,242 with 2,831 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They reported 80 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 19,441. In Madrid, the Spanish Health Ministry on Wednesday reported new 247 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 16,716 more infections in the last 24 hours. The caseload has now surged to 1,910,218 and the death toll to 50,689 since the outbreak of the pandemic. In Amsterdam, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment Wednesday reported that 9,504 new coronavirus cases were reported in the Netherlands raising the total number of infections to 787,406. Also around 112 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours raising the total deaths from COVID-19 to 11,324, said the institute. In Vienna, Austrian authorities announced Wednesday that they recorded 2,550 new coronavirus cases raising the total number of confirmed infections to 357,902. More than 320,000 cases have recovered since the start of the pandemic, deaths have reached 6,149, said the country's Health Ministry. In Prague, the Czech Republic reported a record high 16,939 daily cases of COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. The central European country of 10.7 million has been one of the worst hit, with its total number of detected cases reaching 718,661 with 11,580 deaths. In New Delhi, India said on Thursday that 299 people died due to COVID-19 while 21,822 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 148,738 as the total number of positive cases mounted to 10,266,674. According to the ministry, 9,860,280 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 Tokyo, Japan reported on Thursday 3,844 daily cases of novel coronavirus, raising the nation's total number 232,950, the Health Ministry and local authorities said. The country's cumulative death toll rose by 44 and stood at 3,447. Tokyo added 1,337 new infections, topping 1,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic, which brought the total cases in the Japanese capital to 60,177. In an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus variants, the government suspended new entries of non-resident foreign nationals from around the world to Japan through Jan. 31. In Seoul, South Korea reported 967 new coronavirus cases Thursday, Yonhap reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total caseload at 60,740, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Twenty-one people died in the past 24 hours raising the death toll to 900. On Sunday, the government extended the current level 2.5 distancing measures in the capital area and Level 2 restrictions in the rest of the country until Jan. 3. South Korea is grappling to contain yet another wave of virus infections with the toughest social distancing rules banning gatherings of five or more people. The government has urged citizens to strictly comply with the distancing rules, warning that any violations will face a fine of up to 3 million won ($2,700). Brazil has registered more than 7.5 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 191,570, according to ministry data. 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. Africa has recorded more than two and half million cases, but the true extent of the pandemic there is not known as testing rates are low. South Africa, with more than 800,000 cases and nearly 23,000 deaths, is the worst affected country on the continent. Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Tunisia are the only other African countries to officially record more than 100,000 cases. In Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population said on Wednesday that 1,411 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 56 patients died over the past 24 hours. The figures took the country's tally to 136,644 infections and 7,576 deaths the ministry said. Another 411 patients have been discharged from the hospitals, bringing the overall recoveries to 111,451. In Rabat, Morocco on Wednesday said confirmed coronavirus cases had risen by 2,143 over the past 24 hours, while 41 more people succumbed to the disease to up the country's death toll to 7,355. The North African nation's caseload has reached 437,332 since the contagion came to light, according to the Health Ministry's data, 3,822 infected people have recovered which showed the tally of people who have recovered from the virus till date as 405,251. In Tunis, Tunisia's Ministry of Health on Wednesday announced 50 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 2,414 more infections in 24 hours. The tally of confirmed deaths and infections rose to 4,620 and 134,216 respectively since the outbreak of the virus. Meanwhile, overall recoveries went up to 104,980. Meanwhile, Mauritania's Ministry of Health said Wednesday that 202 persons tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the country's caseload to 14,191. Five more fatalities in the last 24 hours pushed the death toll from the viral illness to 339. The report said, 265 patients have been discharged from hospitals, raising the overall recoveries to 11,095 cases. — Agencies
