As many as 106 million (106,004,046) people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,311,034 have died, according to a worldodometer tally. It reported that there have been 77,643,762 cases of global recoveries. Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with over 100 million confirmed cases in 218 countries and more than 2.31 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 has recorded about 27 million cases and more than 470,705 deaths, the highest figures in the world. The cases have reached 27,407,324 while recoveries have reached 17,146, 169. Daily cases were at record levels in early January but they are now falling. More than 100,000 coronavirus patients are in hospital, but those numbers are dropping too. Canada, which has a far lower death rate than the US, also experienced a winter surge but daily cases are also falling there now. India and Brazil have the second and third highest case tallies, recording some 10.8 and 9.4 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 Moscow, Russia reported 16,627 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 3,951,233 after it crossed the 3.9 million mark. Russia's coronavirus crisis center said 497 coronavirus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the overall national coronavirus death toll was at 76,229. They added 22,831 people recovered from the virus, raising the total number of recoveries to 3,436,326. 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 Saturday 689 deaths and 10,485 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said the country's death toll increased to 61,286 cases and the total confirmed cases those to 2,275,394. 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 Brussels, total infections of coronavirus cases in Belgium on Saturday increased to 721,432 with 2,585 new infections reported by Belgian health authorities. They reported 35 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours raising the total death toll to 21,295. In New Delhi, India said on Saturday that 95 people died due to COVID-19 while 11,713 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 154,918 as the total number of positive cases mounted to 10,814,304. According to the ministry, 10,510,796 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 Seoul, South Korea reported Friday 370 more COVID-19 cases, including 351 local infections, raising the total caseload to 80,131, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Yonhap News Agency reported. The daily infections fell from 467 on Wednesday and 451 on Tuesday after staying under 400 the three previous days. 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. 17. 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. In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil registered 1,239 COVID-19 deaths on Friday and 50,872 additional cases, according to data released by the nation's Health Ministry. The South American country has now registered 9,447,165 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 230,034 deaths, Reuters reported. In Latin America, Brazil has more than nine million confirmed cases and the world's second highest death toll. The country is currently seeing a second surge in infections. 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 3.5 million cases, but the true extent of the pandemic there is not known as testing rates are low. Concern is growing about a South African variant of the disease which is thought to share some similarities with the new UK strain, including being more easily transmissible. South Africa, with more than 1.2 million cases and more than 30,000 deaths, is the worst affected country on the continent. Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Nigeria are the other African countries to officially record more than 100,000 cases. Kenya is the only other country with close to 100,000 cases. In Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population said on Friday that 540 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 48 patients died over the past 24 hours. The figures took the country's tally to 168,597 infections and 9,560 deaths the ministry said. Another 421 patients have been discharged from the hospitals, bringing the overall recoveries to 131,632. — Agencies
