Global Covid cases near 482 million

The overall number of Covid cases is fast approaching 482 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 481,965,679 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,127,067 Tuesday morning.

The US has recorded 79,995,485 cases so far and 977,687 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.

The number of new coronavirus cases globally increased by 7% last week, driven largely by rising infections in the Western Pacific, even as reported deaths from Covid fell, the World Health Organization said.

There were more than 12 million new weekly cases and just under 33,000 deaths, a 23% decline in mortality, according to the UN health agency’s report on the pandemic issued late Tuesday, reports AP.

Confirmed cases of the virus had been falling steadily worldwide since January but rose again last week, due to the more infectious omicron variant and its subvariant BA.2, in addition to the suspension of Covid protocols in numerous countries in Europe, North America and elsewhere.

China has reported more than 56,000 confirmed cases nationwide this month, reports AP.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 43,021,722 on Monday as 999 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.

Besides, 94 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Saturday morning, taking the total death toll to 521,098.

Meanwhile, Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January last year, registered 9,923 cases and 86 more deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 29,852,341 and the national death toll to 659,012, the Ministry of Health said Sunday.