Global Covid caseload tops 259.9 mn, deaths surge to more than 5.18 mn

The global Coronavirus caseload has topped 259.9 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.18 million and vaccinations to over 7.52 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and the total number number of vaccine doses administered stood at 259,944,465, 5,181,026 and 7,523,941,771, respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 48,126,373 and 775,785, respectively according to the CSSE.

The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (34,544,882 infections and 466,980 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,055,238 infections and 613,642 deaths).

The other worst countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (10,076,115), Russia (9,303,751), Turkey (8,654,142), France (7,619,656), Iran (6,097,672), Germany (5,623,056), Argentina (5,322,127), Spain (5,121,100) and Colombia (5,057,897), the CSSE figures showed.

Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Mexico (293,186), Russia (263,934), Peru (200,961), the UK (144,875), Indonesia (143,782), Italy (133,486), Iran (129,376), Colombia (128,290), France (119,758) and Argentina (116,480).