The global coronavirus caseload has topped 200.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.26 million and vaccinations soared to over 4.30 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, the death toll stood and vaccination tally stood at 200,799,056, 4,266,201 and 4,305,633,910, respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 35,433,677 and 615,314, respectively, according to the CSSE.

SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus
SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus (Representational Picture)Pixabay

In terms of infections, India follows in second place with 31,812,114 cases.

The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are Brazil (20,066,587), France (6,298,649), Russia (6,296,570), the UK (6,010,848), Turkey (5,822,487), Argentina (4,989,402), Colombia (4,821,603), Spain (4,566,571), Italy (4,377,188), Iran (4,057,758), Germany (3,789,460) and Indonesia (3,568,331), the CSSE figures showed.

In terms of deaths, Brazil comes second with 560,706 fatalities.

Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are India (426,290), Mexico (242,547), Peru (196,673), Russia (159,803), the UK (130,389), Italy (128,163), Colombia (121,899), France (112,282), Argentina (107,023) and Indonesia (100,636).

Nepal reports highest figure since June

Amid fears of a third wave of the pandemic, Nepal has registered the highest single-day Covid-19 cases since June, which experts have attributed to the relaxation in restrictive measures. The Ministry of Health and Population reported 3,007 new cases on Thursday, which increased the overall infection tally to 708,079, reports said.

The South Asian country last reported more than 3,000 cases on June 22, when the daily figure stood at 3,703. At least 37 people also succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 9,994, the Ministry added.

Nepal logged a record high of 9,317 cases on May 11 when the country was hit hard by the second wave and the health system was strained to its limit.

S.Korea reports 1,704 more Covid cases

South Korea reported 1,704 more cases of Covid-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 207,406. The daily caseload was down from 1,776 in the previous day, but it hovered above 1,000 for 31 straight days. The daily average tally for the past week was 1,515, reports said. 

The recent resurgence was attributable to cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province. Of the new cases, 460 were Seoul residents and 451 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Africa's Covid cases surpass 6.85 million

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa reached 6,857,642 as of Thursday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic stands at 173,836 while 6,004,395 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease, Xinhua news agency reported.

South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia are the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the Africa CDC. South Africa has recorded the highest Covid-19 cases in Africa at 2,484,009 while the northern African country Morocco reported 653,286 cases as of Thursday.