World Coronavirus Dispatch: Last million global deaths came in just 3 mnths

Zimbabwe releases hundreds of inmates from congested jails, European countries that are worst-hit by Covid, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

As Covid death toll passes 3 million, a weary world takes stock

The total number of deaths due to the deadly coronavirus has reached a staggering 3 million worldwide as countries struggle to put up with multiple waves. The global pace of deaths is accelerating, too. After the coronavirus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the pandemic claimed a million lives in nine months. It took another four months to kill its second million, and just three months to kill a million more. As the United States and other rich nations race to vaccinate their populations, new hot spots have emerged in parts of Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 140,735,224

Global deaths: 3,011,014

Nations with most cases: US (31,628,017), India (14,788,003), Brazil (13,900,091), France (5,321,176), Russia (4,640,537).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

In a bid to curb the virus, Zimbabwe releases hundreds of prisoners

Zimbabwe released at least 320 prisoners from its jails to ease congestion in the country’s notoriously overcrowded jails as a second wave of the coronavirus devastates the country. The move comes amid growing allegations that a government crackdown has sent dozens of activists, journalists and opposition leaders to prisons. Most of those released had been convicted of non-violent crimes, but were being held in one of the country’s largest prison facility, and it is known for overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. Read here

J&J scientists refute idea that vaccine's design linked to blood clots

Scientists at Johnson & Johnson refuted an assertion in a major medical journal that the design of their vaccine, which is similar AstraZeneca's, may explain why both have been linked to very rare brain blood clots in some vaccine recipients. In a letter on New England Journal of Medicine, J&J scientists refuted a case report published earlier this week in the same journal that the rare blood clots "could be related to adenoviral vector vaccines." Scientists with J&J's Janssen vaccines division pointed out that the vectors used in its vaccine and the AstraZeneca shot are "substantially different" and that those differences could lead to "quite different biological effects." Read here

Which European countries have fared worst in the pandemic?

Now that a year has passed since the pandemic began, it is a good time to assess which countries have performed the worst. In last June, England topped the table with the highest “relative age-standardised mortality rate” (7 per cent) among 21 European countries. But by the end of the year, positions had changed. Poland, which did not see increased mortality in the spring, suffered large fatalities from October onwards and now topped the table (total relative rate of 12 per cent), with Spain second (11 per cent). This year has seen a steady decline in deaths in the UK, while the Covid death rate in Italy and France is 10 times that of the UK. Read here