The number of new global Covid cases is starting to ease, even with the discovery of new, highly infectious variants first identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil. "This is important because people are scared when they hear mutations and mutants and variants," said Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the World Health Organization's emerging diseases and zoonosis unit. "We cannot let our guard down. We cannot let up." The WHO warns that uneven distribution of Covid-19 vaccines could prolong the global economic recovery. It is calling on wealthier countries to share a portion of their pre-ordered doses for redistribution to poorer countries.
Here are some of the biggest developments Thursday:
The U.S. is recording at least 136,900 new Covid-19 cases and at least 3,000 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data.
The following data was compiled by Johns Hopkins University:
- Global cases: More than 104.79 million
- Global deaths: At least 2.28 million
- U.S. cases: More than 26.65 million
- U.S. deaths: At least 455,211