12 February
Globally, the total confirmed cases of Covid-19 have reached over 107,883,000 with over 2,370,000 deaths and 71,739,000 recoveries.
The US, India, and Brazil lead the world in Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began and are followed by the UK, Russia, France, Spain, and Italy.
Active cases remain clustered in the European region as the UK, France, Spain, and the Netherlands have the most active cases outside of the US.
Meanwhile, the US continues to lead the world in Covid-19 related deaths and is followed by Brazil, Mexico, India, the UK, Italy, France, Russia, Spain, and Germany, respectively.
Australia, which has been very successful in containing the epidemic after reporting only 28,400 cases and 909 deaths in the past year, has reported a clustered outbreak in a “quarantine hotel” in Melbourne.
All 11 cases have been linked to the variant originating in the UK – which can spread more easily and may also be up to 30% more lethal.
Authorities think the outbreak was caused by a nebulizer which likely suspended the viral particles from the hotel room and into the hallway.
The outbreak has led to increased border controls within Australian states, particularly for those coming from Victoria.
Walter Gabriel, MPH, Epidemiologist at GlobalData
