Vaccinationalism is self-defeating: UN chief Only 2% patients left in India's hospitals

As the world crossed a "heartwrenching milestone" of two million deaths from COVID-19, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented that the deadly impact of the pandemic has worsened due to the absence of a global coordinated effort and said that "vaccinationalism" by governments is "self-defeating" that will delay a global recovery.

Since its discovery at the end of December 2019, COVID-19 has now spread to all corners of the world, with cases in 191 countries and regions. Deaths due to the disease reached the grim milestone of one million only in September. In addition, the socio-economic impact of the pandemic has been massive, with countless jobs and livelihoods lost globally, and millions pushed into poverty and hunger.

"Our world has reached a heart-wrenching milestone: the COVID-19 pandemic has now claimed two million lives. Behind this staggering number are names and faces: the smile now only a memory, the seat forever empty at the dinner table, the room that echoes with the silence of a loved one," Guterres said on Friday.

According to Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker, the deadly virus has so far claimed 2,008,237 lives and infected 93,816,953 people globally.

Guterres said the deadly impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of a global coordinated effort and called for the world to act with far greater solidarity "in the memory of those two million souls". The UN chief said as safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out, "we are seeing a vaccine vacuum" and noted that the world's leading economies have a special responsibility.

NEW DELHI: The active Covid-19 cases that are still in hospitals dropped to 2% of total of 105.43 lakh affected, with 2.11 lakh patients lef t under treatment, 67,711 of them in Kerala, 53,344 in Maharashtra, followed by 9581 in UP and 5608 in Rajasthan.

The daily fatality rate is below 200 for whole of the week, except on Wednesday, as 175 persons died of the deadly virus in the past 24 hours, 45 of them in Maharashtra, followed by 23 in Kerala, 16 in West Bengal and 10 in Delhi. The cumulative death toll went up to 1,52,093.

The Covid cases in the country were down to 15,160 in the past 24 hours, which is the lowest during the month of January, with 8.03 lakh samples tested in a day. As many as 18.58 crore persons have been tested so far. The recovery rate went up to 96.56%, with 101.80 lakh out of hospitals in the country, 16,977 of them in the past 24 hours.

A total of 52 cases (51 minor, 1 major) of adverse events following immunisation reported in Delhi on the first day of Covid-19 vaccination