Gulf Today Report

More than 249,854,622 people have been reported infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 5,053,878  people have died, according to a reputable website https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ tally on Saturday.

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

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In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and the total number number of vaccine doses administered stood at 249,087,384, 5,037,731 and 7,189,437,027, respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 46,435,555 and 753,900, according to the CSSE.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of deaths at 753,900.

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 34,333,754 cases and Brazil third with 21,862,458 infections.

New Zealand reported 207 new cases of COVID-19, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday.

Of the 207 new cases, 206 were community cases and one was an imported case at the border, the Ministry added.

The total case number of COVID-19 in the current Delta variant outbreak in New Zealand community reached 4,240, including 4,047 in Auckland, 154 in Waikato, 17 in Wellington, 17 in Northland, four in Canterbury and one in Nelson-Marlborough, it said.

A nurse treats a virus patient. Unvaccinated people are particularly exposed to the virulent Delta strain. File photo

There were 73 COVID-19 patients in New Zealand hospitals, including seven in ICU or HDU, it added.

New Zealand has recorded 6,981 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, said the Ministry.

Iran's Health Ministry has reported 8,633 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 5,973,457.

A total of 5,574,246 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across Iran.

The pandemic also claimed 132 lives in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 127,053, according to the update by Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Friday.

A total of 5,574,246 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 3,732 remain in intensive care units, according to the Ministry.

The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are the UK (9,286,618), Russia (8,573,323), Turkey (8,178,871), France (7,301,303), Iran (5,973,457), Argentina (5,295,260), Spain (5,025,639), Colombia (5,010,982), Italy (4,795,465), Germany (4,733,730), Indonesia (4,247,320), Mexico (3,818,216), Ukraine (3,174,223) and Poland (3,076,518), the CSSE figures showed.

Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Brazil (609,060), India (459,873), Mexico (289,131), Russia (239,943), Peru (200,350), Indonesia (143,519), the UK (142,019), Italy (132,334), Colombia (127,456), Iran (127,053), France (118,830) and Argentina (116,083).