The global COVID-19 death toll reached a grim milestone on Friday— it passed the 2 million mark, as per numbers from the Johns Hopkins University.
As per estimates by the Wall Street Journal, the real death toll could be closer to 2.8 million worldwide.
The difference, according to experts, is possibly due to people who died due to no confirmed diagnosis not being included. UN Secretary Antonio Guterres said, “Our world has reached a heart-wrenching milestone.” Guterres’ statement released via video on the UN website comes as China, the initial epicentre of the pandemic said it confirmed 130 new cases of the virus.
Christopher Murray, the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle told CNN, "We have found that on average, total deaths are 20% higher than reported deaths.”
"I want to see vaccination underway in every country in the next 100 days so that health workers and those at high risk are protected first," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told AFP.
The global death toll of 1 million was hit in late September 2020. Some of the highest numbers are from the US, Brazil, India, Mexico and the UK. The US has so far reported over 386,000 deaths due to the virus, whereas, Brazil has reported over 207,000 deaths. India has reported more than 152,000 deaths; while in Mexico and the UK, the numbers are over 138,000 and 86,000 respectively. The cumulative death toll in Europe is over 615,000.
There appears to be some respite in the offing with vaccination programmes kicking off in various parts of the world, but the pandemic is getting worse. Experts say it could be years before everyone is administered a shot of the vaccine.
Around 35 million sots of the vaccine have been administered in the UK. US President-elect Joe Biden has laid out some detailed plans to combat the virus. Biden aims to administer 100 million shots of the vaccine in his first 100 days in the office. Biden hopes to achieve this by deploying mobile clinics, expanding the public health workforce and creating thousands of immunisation sites. Virus cases in Mexico and Brazil in the meantime are rising.
Countries like Brazil and Portugal have announced new lockdown measures. Britain, to prevent the new variant from entering, has banned all arrivals from Portugal and South America. Arrivals from other nations should carry certification that they tested negative for the virus and must quarantine upon arrival.