The number of Covid-19 infections topped two million on Wednesday, crossing a psychological threshold that serves as a reminder of how it has torn through continents, devastating economies and upending the way people lived and earned their livelihood for what may be months, if not years, to come.
While the first million infections took 93 days, the second took place in 13 days, driven largely by the United States and Europe. In all, about 130,802people have succumbed to the infection, according to data tracked by worldometers.info.
According to the website, United States and countries in Europe account for 78% of infections and 86% of the fatalities. United States is now the biggest hot spot, adding 2,228 fatalities in 24 hours to take its total death toll to over 26,000. Of these, at least 10,000 are in New York.
The other regions where the brunt of this disease has been felt most heavily are Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, with Spain accounting for the highest number of deaths per capital (390 per million people).
However, holding out some hope, a lack of fresh hot spots globally has now fuelled discussions about how some places might begin to reopen.
Scientists and health experts are now looking at low- and middle-income countries such as India, where the disease has the potential to exact more severe costs due to inferior health care facilities.
