Healthcare workers place a nasal swab from a patient into a tube for testing in the Brooklyn borough. AFP

Gulf Today Report

More than 131,392,531 people have been reported infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,980,848 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

With 554,296 deaths and over 30 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.

India's biggest cities braced for stricter lockdowns and other COVID-19 curbs on Saturday as infections hit a six-month high, as a month-long surge continued in the country third-worst hit by the pandemic.

The state's chief minister warned citizens of a lockdown if cases continued.

India's richest state, Maharashtra, accounted for more than half of the 89,129 new cases reported by the national health ministry in the last 24 hours, with a record 47,827 infections.

The state's chief minister warned citizens of a lockdown if cases continued to rise at their current rate, saying medical infrastructure would be inadequate in a couple of weeks.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 12,196 to 2,885,386, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 68 to 76,963, the tally showed.

Canada on Saturday crossed the threshold of one million coronavirus cases as the country faces a third wave of infections, forcing several provinces to tighten restrictions in recent days.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased.

With 2,000 new cases of Covid-19 announced in British Columbia on Saturday evening, Canada topped one million cases since the start of the pandemic, according to figures reported by Canadian broadcasters.

Just over 23,000 people have died.

Canada is grappling with a third wave of cases amid the rapid spread of variants, which are more contagious.

Brazil hopes to use veterinary facilities to increase COVID-19 vaccine output, authorities said on Saturday, as the country accounts for the world's worst daily death tolls and its vaccination efforts lag.

Brazil already makes or finishes coronavirus vaccines at its two main public health institutes, although those efforts have not been enough to supply Latin America's largest nation.