Filenews 25 September 2021
The coronavirus continues its sweeping passage into the world. The "weapon" for dealing with it may be available to citizens, but the cases recorded in many countries remain at high levels.
Italy, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Iran are facing serious problems as infections increase and health systems are under excessive pressure.
Over 130,500 deaths in our neighbouring country
Yesterday, Friday, September 24, Italy's health ministry announced that in the past 24 hours, 52 coronavirus patients have passed away.
Meanwhile, there were 3,797 confirmed cases. With 130,503 deaths due to the pandemic since it occurred on its territory in February 2020 until yesterday, the country of 60 million inhabitants officially records the 2nd heaviest official death toll in Europe, after Britain, and the 9th heaviest in the world.
4.65 million infections have been diagnosed. The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 – excluding those admitted to intensive care units (ICU) – stands at 3,553.
There have been 35 patient admissions to the ICU in the last 24 hours. A total of 489 citizens are hospitalized.
Record in Russia with 820 dead
Russia announced that in the last 24 hours, 828 deaths from the virus have been recorded, a record number since the start of the pandemic.
A total of 202,273 deaths have been recorded so far, while for the fourth day the deaths exceed 800 daily.
The government agency responsible for dealing with the pandemic also announced that 21,379 new cases have been recorded in the last 24 hours.
Nearly 20,000 new cases in Brazil
Across the Atlantic, Brazilian authorities announced that in the past 24 hours, 699 patients have succumbed and 19,438 cases have been confirmed.
With 593,663 deaths since the pandemic broke out on its territory, Brazil, this giant Latin American country with 212 million inhabitants, records the 2nd heaviest toll in the world in absolute terms, behind the US.
The recorded cases stand at 21,327,616, with the country occupying the third place in the world in terms of infections, behind the US and India, according to official data.
In fact, the country is approaching the tragic milestone of 600,000 deaths. However, as vaccination progresses, the rolling average of deaths recorded daily in seven days has fallen to a level lower than a fifth of the nearly 3,000 announced when the pandemic peaked in April.
Over 500 dead in Mexico
At the same time, Mexico announced 564 deaths while there were 10,139 new cases.
With 274,703 deaths since the outbreak of the virus, this country of 126 million inhabitants records the 4th heaviest toll of pandemic casualties in the world in absolute terms.
The recorded cases also reached 3,619,115, according to the ministry's data, which its officials admit to being very undervalued compared to reality.
New record in South Korea
The numbers from South Korea are also alarming. For the first time since the onset of the pandemic, cases surpassed the 3,000 threshold in a 24-hour period yesterday.
Specifically, 3,273 infections were diagnosed, of which 3,245 were due to community transmission. Another 7 COVID-19 patients succumbed in the same period.
The toll of the pandemic in the country reached 2,441 dead out of a total of 298,402 cases.
77% of cases due to community transmission were detected in Seoul and around the capital's metropolitan area, where about half of the population of 52 million lives.
Both the mortality rate and the number of patients hospitalized in a serious to critical condition remain at relatively low levels, at 0.82% and 339 respectively, mainly thanks to the vaccination campaign, which put the emphasis on older citizens who have a high risk of developing a severe form of the disease.
Over 15,000 new cases in Iran
Finally, Iran announced 15,294 infections and 284 deaths.
The toll of the pandemic in the country has reached 118,792 victims out of a total of 5,508,885 from its outbreak in February 2020 to this stage, according to official data.
Hospital intensive care units (ICU) are treating 6,502 covid-19 patients.
As of yesterday, in the country of about 83 million inhabitants, more than 34 million citizens had received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, of which 15.09 million had received the second.
