Global coronavirus cases surpass 100 million

As countries around the world struggle with new virus variants and vaccine shortfalls, the global COVID-19 caseload surpassed the 100 million mark on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally.

Almost 1.3 percent of the world’s population has now been infected with COVID-19, and more than 2.1 million people have died.

One person has been infected every 7.7 seconds, on average, since the start of the year. Around 668,250 cases have been reported each day over the same period, and the global fatality rate stands at 2.15 percent, Reuters reported.

The worst-affected countries – the United States, India, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom – make up more than half all reported COVID-19 cases but represent 28 percent of the global population, according to a Reuters analysis.

It took the world 11 months to record the first 50 million cases of the pandemic, compared to just three months for cases to double to 100 million.

Around 56 countries have begun vaccinating people for the coronavirus, administering at least 64 million doses. Israel leads the world on per capita vaccinations, inoculating 29 percent of its population with at least one dose.

With over 25 million cases, the United States has the highest death toll and has reported just under 425,00 deaths, almost twice as many deaths as Brazil, which has the second-highest death toll in the world.

In India, the nation with the second-highest number of cases, infections are decreasing, with almost 13,700 new infections reported on average each day. The world’s second-most populous country inoculated more than one million people within a week of starting its vaccination campaign.