The number of Covid-19 victims worldwide has reached 1 million, 10 months after the new coronavirus was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan. More than 308,000 people died in North America, nearly 250,000 in South America, 221,000 in Europe, and 190,000 in Asia. The largest numbers of victims are in the United States (nearly 210,000), Brazil (142,000), India (over 96,000), Mexico (over 76,000), and the United Kingdom (over 42,000). Russia ranks 10th in the world in this indicator (with almost 20,400 deaths).
In the UK, a further 71 deaths were recorded on Tuesday among those who had tested positive for COVID in the previous 28 days – the highest number in recent months, bringing the total number of deaths in the UK to 42,072. 7143 new cases have been identified in the past 24 hours – also a record daily increase since mass testing began in the UK. Experts believe the increase in new cases was significantly higher in the spring, but at that time testing was mainly done in hospitals on people with severe symptoms. In total, there have been 439,000 confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19 in the UK.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 33.5 million people in 188 countries have been infected. Nearly 25 million have recovered, and approximately 7.5 million are currently receiving treatment, of which 65.3 thousand are in severe or critical condition.
The incidence of the disease increased significantly again in September, leading to talk of a second or “fall” wave of the pandemic. In 21 of the 50 US states, the number of new cases per day increased by an average of 10% per week. The situation in Europe, which seemed to be emerging from the crisis during the summer, has worsened. “There is no evidence of a reduction in mortality. Unfortunately, it is likely to remain at the same level until there is a vaccine,” said Nancy Baxter, head of the School of Population and Global Health in Melbourne, BBC.
The director of the Russian Gamaleya Institute, Alexander Gintsburg, during an interview with the Reuters agency, demonstrated the new Russian vaccine “Sputnik V”. The World Health Organization believes that in the best-case scenario, the effects of mass vaccination will not be felt until the middle of next year. During that time, the number of deaths may reach two million. Approximately 240 vaccines are currently in development worldwide, 40 of which are in clinical trials and nine of which are in mass trials involving thousands of people.
Mass tests are being conducted in the Indian state of Bhopal.
Memorial made of Spanish flags in one of the parks of Madrid in memory of the victims of COVID-19.
The German cruise ship “Main Schiff 6” never left the Greek port of Piraeus after several crew members were found to be infected with the coronavirus.
The people of Devesel paid tribute to their mayor Ion Aliman and elected him posthumously. The 57-year-old Ion Aliman, mayor of the village of Deveselu in southern Romania, was running for re-election but contracted coronavirus during the campaign and died in a Bucharest hospital on September 15. With only two weeks until the election, the election commission said there was no time to print new ballots. 64% of the villagers put a checkmark next to the deceased’s surname to honor his memory, they said. “We will never have a mayor like that again,” one woman told local television. Now a new election will take place in Devesel.