Global COVID-19 cases surpass 100 million as countries tackle vaccine shortages

(Reuters) – Global coronavirus cases topped 100 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as countries around the world grapple with new virus variants and vaccine shortages.

Almost 1.3% of the world’s population has now been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and more than 2.1 million people have died.

A person has been infected every 7.7 seconds, on average, since the start of the year. About 668,250 cases have been reported every day during the same period, and the global death rate is 2.15%.

The most affected countries – the United States, India, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom – account for more than half of all reported COVID-19 cases but represent 28% of the world’s population, according to a Reuters analysis.

It took the world 11 months to register the first 50 million cases of the pandemic, compared to just three months for cases to double to 100 million. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)

About 56 countries have started immunizing people against the coronavirus, giving at least 64 million doses. Israel is the world leader in per capita vaccinations, inoculating 29% of its population at least one dose.

UNITED STATES

With more than 25 million cases, the United States has 25% of all reported COVID cases, although it only represents 4% of the world’s population. The United States leads the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported, accounting for one in five deaths globally each day. With just under 425,000 dead, the United States has reported nearly twice as many deaths as Brazil, which has the second highest death toll in the world.

As the worst-affected region in the world, Europe is currently reporting one million new infections every four days or so and almost 30 million since the start of the pandemic. Britain hit 100,000 dead on Tuesday.

The Eastern European region, including countries like Russia, Poland, and Ukraine, contribute almost 10% of all global COVID-19 cases.

Despite early agreements for the supply of vaccines, many European countries are facing delays in shipments from Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc.

ASIA AND AFRICA

In India, the country with the second highest number of cases, infections are on the decline, with almost 13,700 new infections reported on average every day – around 15% of its peak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that India was fully self-sufficient in the supply of coronavirus vaccines, the second most populous country in the world having vaccinated more than one million people in the week after the start of his campaign.

China, which recently marked the first anniversary of the first global coronavirus lockdown in the central city of Wuhan, is facing its worst wave of local cases since March last year.

As richer countries embark on mass vaccination campaigns, Africa still scrambles to secure supplies as it grapples with concerns over more infectious variants of the virus first identified in Africa from the South and Great Britain.

African countries have nearly 3.5 million cases and more than 85,000 deaths, according to Reuters’ tally.

The South African variant, also known as 501Y.V2, is 50% more infectious and has been detected in at least 20 countries.

US President Joe Biden will impose a ban on most non-US citizens from entering the country who recently visited South Africa from Saturday in a bid to contain the spread of a new variant of COVID-19 .

Australia and New Zealand have fared better than most other developed economies during the pandemic thanks to swift border closures, lockdowns, strict hotel quarantines for travelers and widespread testing and social distancing.

“We have the virus under control here in Australia, but we want to deploy the vaccine,” Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg said at a press conference on Sunday.