Global covid cases top 490 million, concerns over XE variant

While countries around the world are working to flatten the coronavirus curve, global Covid-19 cases on Sunday topped 490 million. According to the John Hopkins University data, the world has witnessed over 6.15 million deaths due to the Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic more than two years ago.

In the latest data on Monday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload stood at 491,352,180 cases, while the total deaths record stands at 6,152,703. The United States continues to record the highest number of cases with a total of 81,832,612 so far, followed by India with a total of 43,028,863 cases.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) in its latest report said that the number of fresh covid cases across the world between March 21 and March 27 have dropped by 14 percent as compared to the previous week. In another development, a new variant of the Covid infection XE has sparked fresh concerns. According to the WHO, the variant has far more transmissibility rate than the Omicron variant.

Here are top five global updates on coronavirus:

China continues to see a massive surge in Covid-19 cases with the country reporting 13,000 cases on Sunday, the highest since the peak of first wave in Wuhan. Shanghai, which has become the epicenter of the country’s worst outbreak has been forced into a lockdown. The entire city of around 25 million people is now under movement restrictions, with another round of mass testing planned, reports said.

The has witnessed a surge in Covid cases due to the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant. The UK continues to see a surge in the coronavirus cases with a total of 21,379,545 cases being reported so far. With hospitalizations and death rates rising in Britain, the UK has witnessed 166,168 deaths till now. The XE strain – recombinant variant (BA.1-BA.2) was first detected in the United Kingdom in January, the WHO has said.

Germany has reported 41,129 fresh cases, taking the total tally to 21,668,677 cases in the country. With 23 new deaths, Germany’s death toll due to the virus reached 130,052 on Monday, as per the Robert Koch Institute. It is one of the European nations that have seen the highest surge in March.

While South Korea relaxed some restrictions allowing fully vaccinated travellers to enter without quarantine, the country has recorded a surge of 127,190 cases in a day on Monday, taking the tally to 14,001,406. Meanwhile, 218 more deaths were recorded taking the death toll due to the virus to 17,453. The surge in South Korea in the last few weeks had also caught the world’s attention.

France continues to witness a surge in Covid cases. On Sunday, the country reported a total of 132,114 new Covid cases, according to the Reuters news agency. Apart from France, a spike in Italy has been also been worrying Europe.