Global COVID-19 Counter: US and UK have highest positivity rates; vaccination rate rises around globe

By Sophie Soloway ’23

Global Editor

As of Oct. 26, 2021, there have been 244,342,963 total COVID-19 cases across the world, as reported by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. This has resulted in 4,960,582 COVID-19 related deaths. 6,848,740,981 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. 

The United States leads these total positive cases with a reported 45,572,94945,450,123. The U.S. also has the highest number of recorded fatalities of all reporting countries. 

Johns Hopkins reports that the United Kingdom holds the second-highest rate of positive COVID-19 testing within the previous 28-day cycle, with 1,113,163 positive tests reported. Turkey follows the United Kingdom, with 812,780 positive cases reported within the same period. Turkey has a total of 7,879,438 cases and 69,344 total fatalities. 

CNN has an ongoing tracker on their website, which ranks nations based on their number of positive COVID-19 cases. Russia currently sits at the fifth position on that list. According to The Moscow Times, Russia has recently seen a distinct increase in positive COVID-19 cases. The country reached its record number of cases on Oct. 25, with 37,930 new cases and 1,069 deaths.  

Restrictions on outings and vaccination mandates have been imposed regionally, rather than nationally, with Russian President Vladimir Putin again advising local governments to impose legislation on Oct. 25th. 

Amid these record-setting transmission rates, The New York Times reported that 5049.9 percent of the global population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. The United Arab Emirates leads this statistic, with 98 percent of its eligible population having already received their first vaccination dose. As eligible adult vaccination rates rise, researchers across countries continue to investigate solutions for child vaccination.  

Worldwide COVID-19 Cases Continue To Rise

By Sophie Soloway ’23

Global Editor

As of Tuesday, Feb. 9, at least 2.3 million people worldwide have died from the COVID-19 pandemic. Global cases are currently rising at the fastest rate yet. 

The United States has the most cases globally at over 27 million.  India (with approximately 10.8 million total cases) and Brazil (with about 9.5 million) have the second and third highest totals, respectively. However, cases continue to fluctuate across the globe.

Cases in Montenegro have spiked in the past week, and now the country has the highest daily average cases per capita with 85 cases per 100,000 citizens. The Turks and Caicos Islands and Israel fall shortly behind with 72 and 71 cases per 100,00 citizens, respectively. To combat these high statistics, Israel is currently pursuing mass vaccination distribution, leading globally with approximately 23.4 percent of the country already fully vaccinated. 

However, this high vaccination rate has not yet reached occupied Palestine. Human Rights Watch reports that Israel has dodged Geneva Convention responsibilities to distribute medical supplies, leaving the Palestinian people with few resources to combat COVID-19. There are currently over 163,000 total cases in Palestine.

On the other end of the spectrum, countries such as Mainland China, New Zealand and Australia have continued to report some of the lowest COVID-19 infection rates, each with less than one case per 100,000 citizens.