Sharjah24 – AFP: Five million people have died worldwide from Covid-19 since the disease first emerged in China nearly two years ago, according to a tally from official sources.
Monday's milestone, nearly four months after four million deaths were registered, came even as mortality rates slow thanks to a global vaccine rollout that has seen billions of people injected.
While the number of daily deaths worldwide fell below 8,000 for the first time in almost a year in early October, there remain blackspots globally.
"The total number of cases and deaths of Covid-19 is increasing for the first time in two months, due to the current increase in the epidemic in Europe," World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference on Thursday.
In the 52 countries and territories that form the WHO's European region, the mounting death toll is mainly coming from the east.
Russia -- a country with strong vaccine hesitancy -- has seen infections and deaths reach new records, with average daily fatalities in excess of 1,000 since October 20.
After Russia, Ukraine and Romania are the two countries in Europe with the highest daily death toll -- averaging 546 and 442 deaths per day, respectively, over the past seven days.
Latin America and the Caribbean is the world's deadliest region (1,521,193 deaths since the start of the pandemic).
But the number of daily deaths, currently around 840, has been declining since May.
In the United States, more than 1,400 deaths were recorded each day on average over the past seven days, 15 percent down on the previous week. With its total of 746,747 deaths, the country is bearing the brunt of the pandemic.
For an optimal experience, please
