Global COVID-19 deaths surpass six million: WHO

Workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) bury a civilian defence volunteer who died from Covid-19 at Ban Yakang cemetery in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat on February 24, 2022. (Photo by AFP)

The global COVID-19 death toll topped the grim milestone of six million, according to the latest data compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO).

A total of 446,511,318 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,004,421 deaths have been registered as of 16:31 on Monday Central European Time. The death toll went from five million to six million in a span of just over four months.

About one in every 1,300 people globally has died of the disease since the start of the pandemic, and experts have said official death tolls are likely an undercount.

The United States had reported the highest number of COVID-19 deaths at 951,348, accounting for 16 percent of the global total - and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the true death toll for the country is about 32 percent higher.

The US is followed by Brazil with 652,143 deaths, and India with 515,210.

Russia and Mexico both surpassed 300,000 deaths, while Peru had registered over 200,000 fatalities, according to the WHO tally.

On the vaccination front, a total of 10,704,043,684 doses have been administered as of March 5, according to the Organization. While more than half of the world population has been fully vaccinated, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautiously warned in a tweet a day earlier that it's too early to declare victory over COVID-19.

"Many countries are facing high rates of hospitalization and death. With high transmission, the threat of a new, more dangerous variant remains real. We urge all people to exercise caution and all governments to stay the course," the WHO chief's tweet reads.

(Via Reuters)


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