More than 2 million people have died from coronavirus worldwide
Rights — di Camilla Soldati
On 15 January 2021, deaths from coronavirus surpassed 2 million worldwide. A figure that is “heartbreaking”, according to the United Nations.
More than 2 million people have died from coronavirus worldwide
On 15 January 2021, deaths from coronavirus surpassed 2 million worldwide. A figure that is “heartbreaking”, according to the United Nations.
"The world has reached a heartbreaking milestone," said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. "Behind the devastating number are names and faces: a smile now only a memory, a chair forever empty at the table, a room echoing with the silence of a loved one."
On 15 January 2021, the world surpassed 2 million deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic, with total cases approaching one hundred million (91,816,091). The threshold of one million deaths had been reached the previous September, nine months after the first case was identified in Wuhan, China. This means that it took just over three months to double the figure.
Our world has reached a heart-wrenching milestone: #COVID19 has now claimed two million lives.
Sadly, the impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of global coordination.
In the memory of those two million souls, the world must act with far greater solidarity.
Sadly, the impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of global coordination.
In the memory of those two million souls, the world must act with far greater solidarity.
One person dies every eight seconds from coronavirus
According to the Reuters news agency, in the first weeks of 2021 an average of nearly 12,000 deaths per day are being recorded worldwide. One person dies every eight seconds from coronavirus.
Many countries have returned to lockdown and have tightened containment measures after numbers reached new peaks, some even higher than those of the first wave of the pandemic. Such is the case of the United Kingdom, grappling with new variants, which is recording daily deaths in excess of a thousand and an exponential infection curve. The same applies to the United States which, according to Johns Hopkins University, remains the worst-affected country in the world, followed by Brazil, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Europe, meanwhile, accounts for 32 per cent of all coronavirus-related deaths worldwide. China, on the other hand, finds itself recording its first coronavirus death since last May and imposing new lockdowns on millions of people.
What we did not expect is that so many deaths would occur in the world's richest countries. And the fact that the world's richest countries are handling the situation so badly is shocking
Bharat Pankhania, infectious disease expert at the University of Exeter
Vaccines around the world
With the launch of vaccination campaigns in various countries — begun with the administration of the first doses to healthcare workers and the most at-risk sections of the population — results are hoped for and awaited. At present, the country that has administered the highest number of doses is Israel (with around 25 doses administered per 100 people), followed by the United Arab Emirates (15 doses per 100 people) and the United Kingdom (5 doses per 100 people). The countries that have received the most doses are China and the United States (over 10 million each). Israel, however, is an example of the risk of inequitable vaccine distribution, which is unfortunately feared will occur in many countries with regard to the most vulnerable sections of the population. In Israel, vaccines are being administered in illegally occupied territories, but only to settlers. The Palestinian people remain excluded.