COVID-19 has claimed more than 4 million lives around the world, the data from Johns Hopkins University shows.
More than a third of the total fatalities around the world were accounted for in three nations. Fifteen percent of the global total was attributed to the United States, which posted the highest deaths at 606, 000. This was followed by Brazil and India.
The unfortunate number revealed on Wednesday followed the announcement of the dropping of new infections and fatalities in the US and Europe which reach a notable number of its population getting the COVID-19 vaccine. However, Indonesia, among other developing countries, is still recording a surge of outbreaks with its officials struggling to obtain vaccines to have its locals protected.
Some countries and regions are also struggling with the Delta variant, which is more infectious and probably more dangerous, as it adds to the surge of cases.
More than half of the total new cases in the United States are made up of the Delta variant, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates show.
Over the past week, the JHU said an average of 7, 900 virus fatalities were logged.
Nearly 200 days after the COVID-19 outbreak was declared by the World Health Organization, the international death toll has surpassed 1 million as of September 18, 2020. Deaths have reached 2 million after 115 days and exceeded 3 million after 88 days. It took another 89 days to hit 4 million.
Several experts believe that the international death tally is probably more than the reported data as there is a challenge in the accurate recording of the virus spread in the developing world, CNN reported.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that the pandemic is “far from over” as it cautioned that more infectious and fatal variants may emerge and challenge the present vaccines’ effectiveness.
