WORLD / CROSS-BORDERS
World passes 100m virus cases
US looks to ramp up vaccine supply, delivery programs
Published: Jan 27, 2021 04:23 PM

People with appointments wait in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a walk-up public health vaccination site on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California. Photo: AFP

More than 100 million COVID-19 cases have now been recorded worldwide, according to an AFP tally on Tuesday, as newly-inaugurated US President Joe Biden pledged to ramp up the US' struggling vaccine program.

The number of cases, compiled from data provided by national health agencies, represents just a fraction of the real infections as the coronavirus has spread around the globe.

The US, which passed 25 million confirmed cases last weekend, remains the country with the largest outbreak - and the largest death toll of over 420,000.

Biden is seeking to turn around the fight against the virus, which took a ferocious grip on the country during Donald Trump's presidency when the risks were downplayed and officials gave mixed messages on mask-wearing and other safety measures.

Biden said vaccinating the entire US population was a daunting challenge, and the program inherited from the Trump administration "was in worse shape than we anticipated or expected."

In another day of grim milestones, the UK surged past 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, and other European nations looked to tighten their borders, hoping to keep out new, more transmissible virus strains.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was "hard to compute" the loss felt by British families after his country became the first European country to surpass 100,000 COVID-19 deaths.

But he said his government, which faced criticism over its initial response to the outbreak, "did everything that we could to minimize suffering and minimize loss of life."

According to the London Times, the UK was expected to announce Wednesday that British travelers must quarantine in hotels for 10 days after returning from 30 high-risk countries, mostly in South America and Southern Africa.

Neighboring Ireland said Tuesday it would enact mandatory travel quarantines for the first time.

Among other European nations looking to strengthen border controls was Germany, which said it is considering almost completely halting flights into the country.

AFP