World

Global Covid caseload tops 278 mn with more than 5.38 million deaths

Health workers cry during a memorial for their co-worker Esteban, a male nurse that died of the coronavirus disease, at the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Leganes in Leganes, Spain, Friday, April 10, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 278 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.38 million and vaccinations to over 8.86 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) announced that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 278,101,403 and 5,385,862, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has grown to 8,861,081,345.

The US continues to be the worst-hit nation with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 51,814,125 and 815,343, according to the CSSE.

The second worst-hit country in terms of cases is India (34,765,976 infections and 478,759 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,230,943 infections and 618,492 deaths).

The other countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (11,836,768), Russia (10,140,429), Turkey (9,249,576), France (8,994,106), Germany (6,954,634), Iran (6,179,817), Spain (5,718,007), Italy (5,517,054), Argentina (5,428,957) and Colombia (5,115,194), the CSSE figures showed.