Washington: Amid an ongoing resurgence across the world, the global coronavirus caseload has topped 290 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.44 million and vaccinations to over 9.17 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In its latest update on Monday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 290,065,951 and 5,443,444, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 9,178,390,709.
The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 55,069,347 and 826,057, according to the CSSE.
The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (34,889,132 infections and 481,770 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,297,427 infections and 619,401 deaths).
The other countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (13,309,651), Russia (10,358,099), France (10,355,341), Turkey (9,554,771), Germany (7,208,790), Italy (6,328,076), Spain (6,294,745), Iran (6,196,913), Argentina (5,694,930) and Colombia (5,181,173), the CSSE figures showed.
The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Russia (304,284), Mexico (299,525), Peru (202,741), the UK (149,324), Indonesia (144,097), Italy (137,646), Iran (131,680), Colombia (130,026), France (124,930), Argentina (117,204) and Germany (112,161).
Meanwhile, Australia’s government said the milder impact of the Omicron strain of Covid-19 meant the country could push ahead with plans to reopen the economy even as new infections hit a record of more than 37,000 and the number of people hospitalised rose.
Record daily case numbers were reported on Monday in the states of Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, as well as the Australian Capital Territory.
In New South Wales, there were 20,794 cases, higher than Sunday’s figure but below the daily record of 22,577 set on Saturday, with testing numbers lower over the New Year’s holiday weekend.
The national daily total hit a record of more than 37,150 cases, exceeding Saturday’s 35,327 cases, with Western Australia and the Northern Territory still to report.
We have to stop thinking about case numbers and think about serious illness, living with the virus, managing our own health and ensuring that we’re monitoring those symptoms and we keep our economy going, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Channel Seven.
Hospitalisations rose to 1,204 in New South Wales, up more than 10% from Sunday and more than three times the level on Christmas Day.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the advice to the government was that the Omicron strain was more transmissible but also milder than other variants, which reduced the risk to both individuals and the health system.
Michael Bonning, chairman of the Australian Medical Association’s New South Wales Council, said the significant increase in hospitalisations combined with the peak holiday period and the number of health workers exposed to Covid were putting pressure on capacity.