The global coronavirus caseload has topped 244.9 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.97 million and vaccinations soared to over 6.88 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and the total number of vaccine doses administered stood at 244,975,420, 4,971,447 and 6,885,442,555, respectively.

Covid vaccine
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The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 45,703,865 and 741,231, according to the CSSE. In terms of infections, India follows in second place with 34,215,653 cases.

New Covid infections in Netherlands hit highest in 3 months

The number of positive Covid-19 tests in the Netherlands over the past 24 hours rose to the highest in over three months, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on Wednesday.

The RIVM reported 7,301 positive cases from Tuesday to Wednesday, 1,526 more than that in the previous 24 hours. It was the highest number since July 19.

The number of positive cases also increased in the weekly figures. Over the past seven days, 41,409 new positive cases were registered, an average of 5,916 cases per day, that is 56 per cent more than the previous week.

Dutch hospitals see an increase of incoming Covid-19 patients. There are now 859 coronavirus patients in hospital, compared to 849 on Tuesday, of whom 200 are in the intensive care, compared to 192 on Tuesday.

The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are Brazil (21,766,168), the UK (8,938,965), Russia (8,220,975), Turkey (7,935,977), France (7,242,180), Iran (5,888,100), Argentina (5,281,585), Spain (5,006,675), Colombia (4,995,694), Italy (4,752,368), Germany (4,525,297), Indonesia (4,241,809) and Mexico (3,788,986), the CSSE figures showed.

Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Brazil (606,679), India (455,653), Mexico (286,888), Russia (229,672), Peru (200,118), Indonesia (143,235), the UK (140,462), Italy (131,954), Colombia (127,159), Iran (125,716), France (118,530) and Argentina (115,889).