Coronavirus tally: Global cases of COVID-19 top 252 million and Netherlands plans partial lockdown
The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness climbed above 252 million on Friday, while the death toll edged above 5.08 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. continues to lead the world with a total of 46.9 million cases and 759,677 deaths. The U.S. is still averaging almost 1,200 deaths a day, according to a New York Times tracker, although cases and hospitalizations are declining, outside of hot spots that include California, Colorado and New Mexico. The Netherlands has opted to take the advice of a panel of experts and implement a partial lockdown,Reuters reported, becoming the first Western European country to do so since summer. Bars and restaurants will close early and sporting events will be held without audiences for three weeks as the country faces a new wave of cases. The World Health Organization said this week that Europe is now the only region where cases and deaths are rising on a weekly basis, led by Russia where unvaccinated people have set record daily death tolls for weeks.
India is second by cases after the U.S. at 34.4 million and has suffered 462,690 deaths. Brazil has second highest death toll at 610,224 and 21.9 million cases. In Europe, Russia has the most fatalities at 248,203 deaths, followed by the U.K. at 142,971.