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Gulf Today Report

More than 82.19 million people have been reported to infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,796,307 have died, according to a reputable news agency tally published on Thursday.

With 338,571 deaths and 19.5 million confirmed cases, the United States tops the list of twenty countries with the highest recorded infections and deaths in the world.

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Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 32,552 to 1,719,737, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.

The reported death toll rose by 964 to 33,071, the tally showed.

UK reported a daily record 41,385 new coronavirus cases on Monday.

Indian authorities were trying Wednesday to track down tens of thousands of people who entered the country from Britain in recent weeks as cases of a new and fast-spreading coronavirus strain more than doubled in 24 hours.

They have launched efforts to locate around 33,000 people who flew to India in the last month from the UK after 20 people tested positive for the new, more virulent strain — up by 14 cases since Tuesday.

South Korea reported 40 more coronavirus patients have died in the past 24 hours. File photo

India also extended on Wednesday the ban on flights to and from Britain by a week to January 7 in a bid to combat the new strain that British authorities say is no more deadly, but which spreads more easily.

"Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others," the Indian health ministry said Tuesday, referring to those who flew between November 25 and December 23, when Delhi suspended air links with Britain.

It remains unclear how many arrivals from Britain it has traced so far.