The world passed 2 million coronavirus deaths on Friday, an incredible toll that continues to rise as more infectious variants of the virus take hold.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the United States has by far the most deaths and cases of any country in the world, with more than 390,000 deaths. Brazil, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom follow.
China reported its first death since May this week when a World Health Organization (WHO) team arrived to investigate the origins of the pandemic there after earlier expressing concern that Beijing was obstructing the investigation.
China has investigated its level of transparency over the outbreak, and the accuracy of its death and case numbers.
New coronavirus variants are now leading to a faster spread of the virus, with strains discovered in the UK and South Africa of particular concern.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on Friday that the British variant could be the predominant strain in America by March.
“The increased portability of the … variant guarantees universal and increased adherence to mitigation strategies, including distancing and masking,” the CDC warned.
Vaccinations offer some hope of taming the pandemic, but it will take several months before it becomes available on a widespread basis in the US, and possibly significantly longer in some other countries.
Health officials therefore call on people to continue wearing masks and removing them from others.
‘It is really important to remind people, both the government and individuals, of the responsibilities and measures that we must apply at least for the rest of this year, because even if vaccines start to protect the most vulnerable, we are not going to achieve them. any levels of population immunity, herd immunity, in 2021, ‘said WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan this week.