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Environmental Protection Agency
Funerals for the victims, as is the case here in Indonesia, must take place under heavy security
Researchers say the number of people who have died from Covid-19 worldwide has exceeded one million, and many regions are still recording increasing numbers of new infections.
According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, the death toll now stands at 1,000,555.
The United States, Brazil and India make up nearly half of this total.
Experts warn that due to differences in death registration, the true number may be much higher.
This dismal achievement comes nearly 10 months after news of the new Corona virus began to appear in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The epidemic has since spread to 188 countries with more than 32 million confirmed cases. The lockdowns and other measures to try to stem the spread of the virus have pushed many economies into a recession.
Meanwhile, efforts are continuing to develop an effective vaccine – although the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the death toll could reach two million before the vaccine becomes widely available.
The United States has the highest death toll in the world with about 205,000 deaths, followed by Brazil with 141,700 and India with 95,500.
Where is Covid-19 spreading fastest?
The United States has recorded more than seven million cases – more than a fifth of the global total. After the second wave of cases in July, the numbers fell in August but they appear to be on the rise again now.
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Coronavirus has spread rapidly in India, with the country registering nearly 90,000 cases the day before in September.
Confirmed infections in India have reached six million – the second highest after the United States. However, due to its population size, India experienced a relatively low mortality rate.
Brazil has the highest number of deaths in Latin America and has recorded more than 4.7 million cases, the third highest in the world.
Elsewhere in the region, newly confirmed infections are increasing rapidly in Argentina, which now has more than 700,000 cases.
How does the search for a vaccine proceed?
Globally, there are about 240 potential vaccines in early development, of which 40 are in clinical trials and nine are in the final stage of testing in thousands of people. It usually takes years to develop a vaccine, but due to the global emergency, scientists are working at breakneck speed.
One of them developed by Oxford University – which is already in an advanced stage of testing – has shown that it can trigger an immune response, and a deal has been signed with AstraZeneca to supply 100 million doses in the UK alone.
In China, A potential vaccine has been shown to produce protective antibodies It is made available to the Chinese army. However, concerns have been raised about the speed of vaccine production.
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Meanwhile, scientists in Russia say early tests have been conducted A vaccine called Sputnik-V shows signs of an immune response.
In a report earlier this month, they said each trial participant developed antibodies to fight the virus and experienced no serious side effects.
Russia licensed the vaccine for domestic use in August – the first country to do so. Once again, there was concern about the speed of the process and some experts said early trials were too small to demonstrate efficacy and safety.
In the United States, President Donald Trump said Americans should be able to get a vaccine as early as October, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is unlikely that the vaccine will be widely available before mid-2021. .
The World Health Organization has said it does not expect to see widespread vaccinations against Covid-19 until mid-2021.
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