The world recorded more than 85.4 million CoV cases with more than 1.85 million deaths.

The world records 85,455,471 cases and 1,850,112 deaths from Covid-19, an increase of 538,797 and 7,715 cases a day, respectively, while 60,387,163 people have recovered, according to the Worldometers real-time update page.

The United States, the world's largest epidemic region, recorded 161,493 more infections and 1,336 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 21,080,684, of which 360,027 died.

Public health officials on January 3 warned that disaster days are still ahead when the number of new infections each day can continue to increase related to gathering activities, holiday gatherings.

"It is a terrible, unfortunate but predictable prospect," said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the leading US epidemiologist.

India, the second largest epidemic region in the world, reported an additional 16,660 infections and 215 deaths, bringing the total number of people infected and dead from Covid-19 to 10,341,291 and 149,686 respectively.

On January 3, India's Drug Administration approved two Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use, one being developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca in collaboration with the University of Oxford, UK, and the other.

The world's second most populous country is expected to begin a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination program in a few weeks, with the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine being mainstream, while the COVAXIN vaccine will be managed under more stringent conditions.

According to the leader of the Indian pharmaceutical management agency V.G.

Somani explained that the Bharat Biotech vaccine was approved "for the benefit of the public, as a preventive measure ... to have more options for vaccination, especially in cases of mutant virus infections"

India suspended all flights from the UK from December 23 to January 7 due to concerns about the spread of a new strain of nCoV, but about 33,000 passengers had flown since late November, before the ban was

Brazil, the third largest epidemic region in the world, recorded an additional 276 deaths from Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths to 196,018.

With pressure on President Jair Bolsonaro to start vaccinating people, the Brazilian government on December 29 urged vaccine manufacturers Covid-19 to speed up registration of vaccine approvals in the country.

The Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said it had approved the import of two million doses of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine, although the vaccine has not yet been approved for use in mass vaccination.

Russia, the fourth largest epidemic region in the world, recorded an additional 24,150 nCoV infections and 504 deaths, bringing the total number of infections and deaths to 3,236,787 and 58,506 respectively.

In his New Year's speech 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that a second wave of Covid-19 was devastating the country.

Russia began rolling out the Sputnik V vaccination as part of its national vaccination program in early December, focusing on high-risk groups.

France, the fifth largest epidemic region in the world, recorded an additional 12,489 cases and 116 deaths, bringing infections and deaths to 2,655,728 and 65,037 respectively.

Five people were arrested and about 1,600 people were fined after police discovered an illegal New Year party with thousands of participants in the Brittany region of France on Jan. 2, despite the main incident.

Local police said they tried to close the party but were faced with a "hostile violence" reaction.

On December 31st, France first recorded a new case of nCoV infection from South Africa, who was a person in the Haut-Rhin region, near the Swiss border, who had just returned from this African country.

Since January 2, France has imposed an earlier night curfew in 15 northeast and southeast administrative zones, starting at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m.

Health Minister Olivier Veran announced on January 1 a plan to expand the immunization campaign, which only targets nursing home residents and medical staff over 65 years old.

UK, the 6th largest epidemic region in the world, recorded 2,654,779 cases and 75,024 deaths, increasing 54,990 and 454 cases respectively.

Health officials warned Britain is "back in the heart of the storm" Covid-19, with the same number of patients admitted to the hospital as much as the peak period in April. The government imposed a Level 4 restriction - the most severe.

On January 1, Britain ordered the closure of all primary schools in London and re-activation of field hospitals set up at the start of the pandemic.

In his New Year's message on December 31st, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain faces "an uphill battle" in the coming months, but believes that the country will "escape the ghost" of Covid-19 in 2021

Iran, one of the Middle East's largest epidemic zones, reported 55,540 deaths, an increase of 102, out of 1,243,434 cases, an increase of 5,960.

Iran on December 29 kicked off the first phase of a clinical trial of a self-developed Covid-19 vaccine by injecting three people on television.

In addition, Iran is continuing to develop another vaccine, at the same time ordering about 16.8 million doses through Covax, the vaccine delivery mechanism established by the World Health Organization.

South Korea recorded 657 new infections in 24 hours, bringing the total to 63,244, of which 962 deaths, up 20 cases compared to the previous day.

The Korean government last week added new restrictions such as banning gathering of 4 people, and suspending ski resorts and tourist sports, to prevent the virus from spreading during Christmas and the year.

Contrary to the scene of people jostling for the New Year as in previous years, the streets of the Korean capital Seoul last night were empty due to Covid-19 restrictions.

In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is the region's largest outbreak with 765,350 cases, an increase of 6,877, of which 22,734 people die, an increase of 179. Indonesia has banned all visitors from the UK and tightened regulations on people from Europe.

Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on December 29 that the country was finalizing agreements to buy 50 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

On December 31, Indonesia received 1.8 million doses of Chinese vaccine Sinovac.

The Philippines reported 477,807 cases and 9,257 deaths, up 891 and 4 cases respectively, making it the second largest epidemic area in the region.

Earlier this week, Philippine officials said some ministers and soldiers had been vaccinated with Covid-19, but not in large numbers.

As of January 2, the Philippines banned people from the United States after it discovered a new case of nCoV infection from the UK.

Thailand recorded an additional 315 cases of nCoV infection, bringing the total number to 7,694, of which 64 died, unchanged from the previous day.

Bangkok closes schools, childcare centers and the elderly, and preschools from January 4-17.

The new wave of Covid-19 in Thailand originated in a seafood market in Samut Sakhon province, near the capital Bangkok.

Singapore recorded 58,697 cases, an increase of 35 cases in the past 24 hours.

On December 30th, the island nation started Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccination, with priority given to health workers and the elderly.