Global Covid cases surpass grim 100-million milestone; 2.1 million dead

Global coronavirus cases surpassed 100 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as countries around the world struggle with new virus variants and vaccine shortfalls.
 
Almost 1.3 per cent of the world’s population has now been infected with Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and more than 2.1 million people have died. One person has been infected every 7.7 seconds, on average, since the start of the year.
 
Around 668,250 cases have been reported each day over the same period, and the global fatality rate stands at 2.15 per cent. The worst-affected countries — the United States, India, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom — make up more than half all reported Covid-19 cases but represent 28 per cent of the global population, according to a Reuters analysis.
 
It took the world 11 months to record the first 50 million cases of the pandemic, compared to just three months for cases to double to 100 million.