Record daily Covid cases in US
Country records 210k new Covid infections in a 24-hour stretch to Thursday evening; global fatalities cross 1.5 million
WASHINGTON: The world has passed the grim milestone of 1.5 million coronavirus deaths while the US posted an all-time high of more than 210,000 new Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour stretch to Thursday evening. America also witnessed more than 2,900 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The coronavirus has killed at least 1,507,480 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Friday. More than 65,202,960 cases of the disease have been registered. Of these, at least 41,422,500 are now considered recovered.
The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections. Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.
Over Thursday, 12,658 new fatalities from Covid-19 and 669,926 new cases were recorded worldwide.
The developments came as several nations planned to deliver much-needed vaccines early next year to break the cycle of lockdowns and restrictions.
Even as the latest positive news about a vaccine was announced, with the Moderna candidate showing it confers immunity for at least three months, several others countries marked new Covid-19 records.
Italy registered 993 deaths, topping its previous record of 969 earlier in the year when it was the first European country to be affected by the pandemic.
In the US, California announced new statewide bans on gatherings and non-essential activities, as hospitals in the nation’s most populous state are being overwhelmed.
The pandemic is showing little sign of slowing, with more than 10,000 new deaths recorded worldwide every day since November 24 - a rate never reached before, according to an AFP tally.
As the world tires of economically crippling restrictions, attention has turned to the race for a vaccine after Britain on Wednesday became the first Western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine for general use, piling pressure on other countries to swiftly follow suit.
On Thursday, a study showed that the Moderna vaccine, which was recently demonstrated to have 94% efficacy, causes the immune system to produce potent antibodies that endure for at least three months.
In anticipation of such vaccines being approved, France announced that its vaccinations will be free and begin in January for one million elderly in retirement homes, in February for 14 million at-risk people and in spring for the rest of the population. Belgium also said it intends to start vaccinating its most vulnerable in January.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres warned that even if vaccines are quickly approved, the world would still be fighting the pandemic’s aftershocks.
“Let’s not fool ourselves. A vaccine cannot undo damage that will stretch across years, even decades to come,” Guterres said while opening a special UN summit on the virus.
More than 180 countries have joined Covax, a global collaboration initiative by the WHO to work with manufacturers to distribute vaccines equitably.