Global coronavirus cases top 220 million

Gulf Today Report

More than 220 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 4.54 million have died on Saturday.

According to a reputable news agency reports on Saturday, the global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness COVID-19 climbed above 220,655,863 on Friday, while the death toll rose above 4,567,602.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

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978 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death in past 24 hours

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Brazil recorded 25,565 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 756 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

Brazil has registered more than 20 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 582,670, according to ministry data.

Elderly people wait to have a rapid COVID-19 test in Brasilia, Brazil. AP

Meanwhile, Mexico's Health Ministry reported 17,409 new cases of COVID-19 and 725 more deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country since the pandemic began to 3,405,294 and the death toll to 262,221. Moreover, Australia, struggling to quell its worst wave of COVID-19, reported 1,756 infections on Saturday, another record high, and officials warned that worse is yet to come, urging people to get vaccinated.

Most of the cases were again in New South Wales, which has been fighting an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant since mid-June. The state reported 1,533 new cases and four further deaths.

A couple await vaccination at a screening centre in Mexico.

Neighbouring Victoria reported 190 cases, the Australian Capital Territory 32 and Queensland one. Recent daily infections are running about double the levels of Australia's previous worst wave of the pandemic a year ago.

New Zealand recorded its first COVID-related death in six months Saturday, but health authorities said there were signs the outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant was coming under control.

A woman in her 90s, who had underlying health conditions and could not receive a ventilator or intensive care support, died in an Auckland hospital on Friday night.

A medical staff tests shoppers at a pop-up community COVID-19 testing station in Christchurch, New Zealand. AP

She is the 27th person to die with COVID-19 in New Zealand and the first recorded since February 16 this year.

Mainland China reported 28 new COVID-19 cases on Sept 3, the same as a day earlier, with one local transmission and the rest coming from overseas, the country's national health authority said on Saturday.

The National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin that the local infection was identified in Dehong in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, stood at 22 on Sept. 3, the same as the day before, the commission said.