Covid death toll in Asia tops 100,000
Asia has registered more than 100,000 deaths linked to the coronavirus since it first emerged in December, according to an AFP tally based on official sources yesterday.
A total of 100,667 deaths have been attributed to the coronavirus in the region out of 5,420,803 officially declared cases, with 4,255,760 people considered to have recovered.
In terms of fatalities, India is the most affected country with nearly three-quarters of total deaths in the region -- 67,376 deaths from 3,853,406 cases. The country reported another record daily jump of 83,883 infections yesterday.
India has also recorded the biggest surge in the world in a week, with more than half a million new cases (up 15 percent in seven days) and more than 6,800 new deaths (up five percent).
It is followed by Indonesia with 7,616 deaths from 180,646 cases and Pakistan (6,328 deaths, 297,014 cases).
In terms of deaths, Asia is the fourth most affected region in the world, behind Latin America and the Caribbean (282,979 deaths, 7,514,473 cases), Europe (216,596 deaths, 4,049,902 cases), the United States and Canada (194,915 deaths, 6,244,459 cases).
As the race intensifies for a vaccine against the coronavirus, rich countries are rushing to place advance orders for the inevitably limited supply to guarantee their citizens get immunized first.
The US has urged states to get ready for a potential Covid-19 vaccine rollout two days before the presidential election as the pandemic has killed more than 863,000 people worldwide.
In a widely circulated letter on Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked states to sweep away red tape that could prevent a network of vaccine distribution centers being "fully operational by Nov 1, 2020."
Britain yesterday said it was investing in trials of a 20 minute Covid-19 test, with a view to rolling out widespread, systematic testing to pick up outbreaks early, amid criticism over backlogs in its current testing system, reports Reuters.
Health minister Matt Hancock has said he hopes mass testing using faster Covid-19 tests can be rolled out towards the end of the year.
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