NEW YORK: Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 200 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant threatens areas with low vaccination rates.
Cases are rising in at least 83 out of 240 countries, according to the tally, and straining healthcare systems.
“While we desperately want to be done with this pandemic, COVID-19 is clearly not done with us. And so our battle must last a little longer,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said this week.
At least 2.6% of the world’s population has been infected, with the true figure likely higher due to limited testing in many places. If the number of infected people were a country, it would be eighth most populous in the world, behind Nigeria, according to a Reuters analysis.
It took over a year for COVID-19 cases to hit 100 million mark, while the next 100 million were reported in just over six months, according to the analysis. The pandemic has left close to 4.4 million people dead.
The countries reporting the most cases on a seven-day average - the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, India and Iran - represent about 38% of all global cases reported each day.
The United States accounts for one in every seven infections reported worldwide. U.S. states with low vaccination rates such as Florida and Louisiana are seeing record numbers of COVID patients hospitalized, despite the nation giving 70% of adults at least one vaccine shot. The head of one Louisiana hospital warned of the “darkest days” yet.
Unvaccinated people represent nearly 97% of severe cases, according to the White House COVID-19 Response Team.
RISING CASES IN ASIA
Countries in Southeast Asia are also reporting rising cases. With just 8% of the world’s population, the region is reporting almost 15% of all global cases each day, according to a Reuters analysis.
Indonesia, which faced an exponential surge in COVID-19 cases in July, is reporting the most deaths on average and surpassed 100,000 total deaths on Wednesday. The country accounts for one in every five deaths reported worldwide each day. The Southeast Asian nation aims to gradually reopen its economy in September, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Monday, citing that the wave of infections had passed its peak, with daily confirmed cases on the decline.
After suffering its worst outbreak in April-May, India is once again seeing a rising trend of cases. Last Friday, the country reported 44,230 new COVID-19 cases, the most in three weeks, fuelling worries of a third wave of infections that has forced one state to lockdown.