GENEVA, Dec 26 (NNN-TASS) — More than 655,000 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus have been recorded globally in the past day, pushing a total number of infections to 78.19 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its daily bulletin.
According to the WHO updates, the coronavirus-related deaths increased by over 11,500 to exceed 1.73 million.
As Dec 25, as many as 78,194, 947 coronavirus cases and 1,736,752 coronavirus-related deaths were registered across the globe. The number of confirmed cases grew by 655,041 in the past 24 hours and the number of fatalities increased by 11,564.
The WHO statistics are based only on officially confirmed data provided by countries.
South and North America account for more than 49% of new COVID-19 cases submitted to the WHO in the past 24 hours (323,507). Europe goes second (245,610 cases) followed by South East Asia (33,084).
Most COVID-19 cases are recorded in the United States (18,311,405), followed by India (10,146,845), Brazil (7,365,517), Russia (2,992,706), France (2,484,875), the UK (2,188,591), Italy (2,009,317), Spain (1,854,951), Germany (1,612,648), Argentina (1,563,865), Colombia (1,544,826), and Mexico (1,350,079).
Meanwhile, the new strain of novel coronavirus, known as VOC-202012/01, has already been detected in eight European countries, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said.
“8 countries in the WHO_Europe region have now identified the new COVID19 variant VOC-202012/01,” Kluge wrote in a Twitter post on Friday. “The variant also seems to be spreading among younger age groups unlike previous strains. Vigilance is important while research is ongoing to define its impact.”
The official called for strengthening the existing protective measures, such as social distancing, wearing face masks and staying in core support bubbles.
On Dec 14, Britain’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, said British scientists had identified a new coronavirus strain that might be to blame for high infection rates in southeastern England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told an urgent news conference on December 19 that according to the current findings the new strain might be 70% more contagious.
He added that British experts had not yet found any proof that the mutated virus was fraught with a greater risk of lethal outcome. Some countries, including Russia, have paused air links with Britain.
