Global Covid cases top 485 million

The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 485 million as the pandemic enters into its third year.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 485,153,138 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,132,345 Wednesday morning.

The US has recorded 80,019,128 cases so far and 978,648 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 43,021,982 on Tuesday, as 1,259 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, showed the health ministry data.

Besides, as many as 35 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Monday morning, taking the total death toll to 521,070.

Meanwhile, Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January last year, registered 29,887,191 cases as of Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 659,508.

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.