The global coronavirus death toll has surpassed 4 million, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
Worldwide, more than 185 million cases of the deadly COVID-19 have been recorded. The U.S. continues to lead the world in the number of cases — 33.7 million — and deaths, with more than 606,000.
India is second in the world in cases, with 30.7 million, followed by Brazil’s 18.9 million. But Brazil is second in the world in deaths — more than 528,500 — compared with India’s more than 405,000.
The tally of lives lost over the past year and a half, as compiled from official sources by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the number of people killed in battle in all of the world’s wars since 1982, according to estimates from the Peace Research Institute Oslo.
The toll is three times the number of people killed in traffic accidents around the globe every year. It is about equal to the population of Los Angeles or the nation of Georgia. It is equivalent to more than half of Hong Kong or close to 50% of New York City.
With the advent of the vaccine, deaths per day have plummeted to about 7,900, after topping out at over 18,000 a day in January.
But in recent weeks, the mutant delta version of the virus first identified in India has set off alarms around the world, spreading rapidly even in vaccination success stories including the U.S., Britain and Israel.
Britain, in fact, recorded a one-day total this week of more than 30,000 new infections for the first time since January, even as the government prepares to lift all remaining lockdown restrictions in England later this month.
Other countries have reimposed preventive measures, and authorities are rushing to step up the campaign to dispense shots.
Tokyo Olympics officials announced Thursday morning no spectators will be allowed during the Games due to the recently implemented coronavirus state of emergency throughout the metropolitan area.
At the same time, the disaster has exposed the gap between the haves and the have-nots, with vaccination drives barely getting started in Africa and other desperately poor corners of the world because of extreme shortages of shots.
The U.S. and other wealthy countries have agreed to share at least 1 billion doses with struggling countries.
The variants, uneven access to vaccines and the relaxation of precautions in wealthier countries are “a toxic combination that is very dangerous,” warned Ann Lindstrand, a top immunization official at the World Health Organization.
Instead of treating the crisis as a “me-and-myself-and-my-country” problem, she said, “we need to get serious that this is a worldwide problem that needs worldwide solutions.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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