As restrictions lift, Covid gathers new steam worldwide

New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) Covid-19 cases are rising again the world over. Seven of the 10 most affected countries currently have reported surge in cases in the past seven days with the US alone reporting over 1.4 lakh new cases a day.
The seven countries out of the 10 most affected currently where cases are rising include the US, Brazil, Italy, Poland, Spain, Russia and Germany, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The three countries which have reported a downward trend are – India, France and the UK.
The rise in new cases in the US is particularly worrying as just in one week daily new cases shot up from about 1 lakh to about 1.45 lakh, breaking past records. There is now a clear upwards trend in new cases since the election day.
A total of 1,479 deaths from the coronavirus were recorded nationwide in the US on Wednesday, bringing the seven-day average death increase to 1,134, the highest since early August.
The death toll stands at more than 242,000, with the total caseload at 10.5 million in the country.
In India, which has reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases so far after the US, the overall daily cases have gone down a bit, although this downward trend is not visible across all the states.
With 44,879 new coronavirus infections and 547 deaths in the past 24 hours, India’s overall tally stood at 87,28,795 on Friday, as the death toll touched 1,28,688, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
Currently, there are 4,84,547 active cases, whereas 81,15,580 patients have been cured and discharged so far.
The recovery rate stands at 92.97 per cent, and the fatality rate is 1.47 per cent, the Ministry said.
Maharashtra continued to be the worst-hit state with 1,736,329 cases till date. Delhi is grappling with a renewed surge as it confirmed the highest single-day fatalities on Thursday since the pandemic struck.
The city recorded as many as 104 deaths and 7,053 new infections. The other worst hits are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.
France has also witnessed a slowdown in the number of new Covid-19 cases and a “fragile” downward trend of the viral circulation, official data revealed.
Since October 30, France has been placed in new nationwide confinement, effective until early December, which locked down 67 million inhabitants, who can go out only to work, buy essential items or for a health emergency.
All non-essential businesses such as restaurants, cafes, bars, cinemas and gyms are closed.
Official data on Thursday revealed that 33,172 people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, taking France’s overall infection tally to 1,898,710.
The daily figure was lower than the 35,879 new cases registered on Wednesday, and much lower than the daily record of 60,486 cases reported on November 6. In the same period, there were 425 new fatalities, which increased the death toll to 42,960.
However, new case are rising in countries like Brazil, Italy, Poland, Spain, Russia and Germany.
Brazil currently accounts for the third highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world and the second highest fatalities. As of Friday, the country’s case load and the death toll stood at 5,747,660 and 163,368.
The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 52.6 million, while the deaths have surged to 1,291,920, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

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