Global COVID caseload tops 156.4 mn, India records 4 lakh new cases

Washington: The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 156.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.26 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University, as per an IANS report.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 156,472,669 and 3,264,720, respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 32,649,677 and 580,870, respectively, according to the CSSE.

In terms of infections, India follows in second place with 21,491,598 cases.

India has recorded over 400,000 fresh Covid-19 cases for the third consecutive day, taking its cumulative caseload to 21,892,676. On Saturday, the country recorded 401,326 cases, according to MoHFW. 4,187 fatalities, the highest yet, were also registered, taking the death toll to 238,270. India now has 3.73 million active cases.

Coronavirus cases are surging rapidly in states like Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Haryana, Odisha and Uttarakhand.

The six most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (4,996,758), Karnataka (1,838,885), Kerala (1,824,856), Uttar Pradesh (1,453,679), Tamil Nadu (1,323,965), Delhi (1,292,867), and Andhra Pradesh (1,245,374).

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa Friday evening announced a complete lockdown across the state to arrest the spread of Covid-19. The lockdown is imposed from 6 am on May 10, Monday, till 6 am on May 24.

The other countries with more than two million confirmed coronavirus cases are Brazil (15,082,449), France (5,808,421), Turkey (4,998,089), Russia (4,808,133), the UK (4,446,752), Italy (4,092,747), Spain (3,567,408), Germany (3,507,730), Argentina (3,118,134), Colombia (2,968,626), Poland (2,824,425), Iran (2,627,094), Mexico (2,358,831) and Ukraine (2,160,809), the CSSE figures showed.

In terms of deaths, Brazil comes second with 419,114 fatalities.

Nations with a death toll of over 50,000 are India (234,083), Mexico (218,173), the UK (127,858), Italy (122,470), Russia (110,735), France (106,262), Germany (84,498), Spain (78,792), Colombia (76,867), Iran (74,241), Poland (69,445), Argentina (66,872), Peru (62,976) and South Africa (54,687).