The coronavirus has now killed more than 2 million people worldwide since the outbreak in China in December 2019, according to a version by Johns Hopkins University. The United States, with about 4% of the world population, reported about one-fifth of all deaths worldwide.
Approximately 1 million people worldwide die from coronavirus complications past three and a half months. On Thursday, 15,404 new deaths and 752,723 new cases were recorded worldwide.
In a statement, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the 2 million deaths “a heartbreaking milestone.”
“Behind this staggering number are names and faces: the smile is now just a memory, the seat empty at the dinner table forever, the room echoing with the silence of a loved one,” Guterres said.
According to the latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were the United States with 3,882 new deaths, followed by the United Kingdom with 1,248 and Brazil with 1,131.
The United States remains the country worst affected, with more than 389,000 deaths due to more than 23 million cases. More than 6 million people have been declared recovered.
After the US, Brazil is the worst hit country with more than 207,000 deaths from more than 8 million cases, India with more than 151,000 deaths from more than 10 million cases, Mexico with more than 137,000 deaths from more than 1.5 million cases, and the UK with more than 86,000 deaths due to more than 3.2 million cases.
The country with the most deaths in terms of population is Belgium, with 175 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Slovenia with 149, Bosnia-Herzegovina with 134, Italy with 134, and the Czech Republic with 131.
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Europe generally has 646,489 deaths due to 30 million cases; Latin America and the Caribbean, 542,333 deaths due to nearly 17 million infections; and the United States and Canada, 406,214 deaths due to 24 million cases.
Asia reported 228,967 deaths from 14,510,781 cases, the Middle East 93,132 deaths from 4,330,451 cases, Africa 76,753 deaths from 3,179,230 cases, and Oceania reported 945 deaths from 31,443 cases.
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Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of tests that have increased has increased sharply while the testing and reporting techniques have improved, leading to an increase in reported cases.
However, the number of diagnosed cases is only a fraction of the actual total number of infections, as a significant number of less severe or asymptomatic cases always go unnoticed.
Like the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines popping up around the world, Guterres has begged the world’s leading economies to make sure the distribution is fair.
“Vaccines are rapidly reaching high-income countries, while the poorest in the world have nothing. Science is succeeding – but solidarity is failing,” he said. “Governments have a responsibility to protect their people, but ‘vaccination’ is a self-defeating one and will delay a global recovery.”