Global virus case total tops 50 million
The coronavirus has hit another sobering milestone: more than 50 million positive cases worldwide since the pandemic began.
Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker reported more than 50.2 million COVID-19 cases globally as of Sunday.
There have been more than 1.2 million deaths from the disease worldwide since the pandemic started.
The U.S., with about 4% of the world’s population, represents almost a fifth of all reported cases.
The country has had more than 9.8 million cases and more than 237,000 deaths from the virus since the pandemic started, according to Johns Hopkins University’s data.
Coronavirus cases and deaths also continue to soar in the U.S., as they are in many countries.
The U.S. reported more than 126,000 positive cases and more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday, according to the university.
Wisconsin health officials on Sunday reported more than 4,000 new cases of the coronavirus, a day after the state set a new daily record with more than 7,000 positive tests. More than 267,000 cases have been recorded since the start of the pandemic.
Officials confirmed 11 new deaths, bringing the state’s death toll to 2,312. That is the 26th highest per capita in the country in the last two weeks.
Texas on Sunday reported 5,404 new cases of the coronavirus, with almost 2,000 of those cases coming from the hard-hit El Paso area, state health officials said.
The state’s total number of cases since the pandemic began is nearing 1 million, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, which puts the number of cases at more than 985,000.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said Sunday that with 43 additional deaths reported, the state’s death toll was at 18,743.
Meanwhile, in Greece, health authorities announced 1,914 new cases of the new coronavirus, including a record 35 deaths, on Sunday.
The total number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic is 56,698, with 734 deaths.
Researchers at the chemistry department of the University of Athens said Saturday that an analysis of waste at the Athens region’s main waste treatment plant has led them to estimate that 1.5% to 2% of the capital region’s population of 4.2 million are active coronavirus carriers, which would mean 63,000 to 84,000 individuals.
Authorities said Sunday that of the country’s 1,063 intensive care units, 734 were occupied, 259 with coronavirus patients. The rapid filling of such places was one of the reasons the country was placed on lockdown Saturday.
India has reported 45,674 new coronavirus infections, with the capital coping with a sharp surge of nearly 7,000 cases a day this past week.
India’s tally of confirmed cases – currently the second largest in the world behind the United States – has exceeded 8.5 million. The Health Ministry on Sunday also reported 559 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising total fatalities to 126,121.