Global Covid caseload tops 266.3 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 266.3 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.26 million and vaccinations to over 8.21 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 266,396,192 and 5,261,867, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 8,217,801,359.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 49,278,240 and 789,742, according to the CSSE.

The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (34,641,561 infections and 473,537 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,147,476 infections and 615,744 deaths).

The other countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (10,574,291), Russia (9,661,865), Turkey (8,923,120), France (8,021,594), Germany (6,219,259), Iran (6,137,821), Argentina (5,343,153), Spain (5,202,958), Italy (5,118,576) and Colombia (5,082,762), the CSSE figures showed.

The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Mexico (295,203), Russia (276,979), Peru (201,379), the UK (146,097), Indonesia (143,876), Italy (134,287), Iran (130,277), Colombia (128,821), France (120,522), Argentina (116,680) and Germany (103,240).