Global Covid cases at 41.15m

The global Covid-19 cases surpassed 41.15 million on Wednesday amid reports of growing infections in Europe and the USA, report agencies.

According to the latest tally of Worlometers, the total coronavirus cases reached 41,154,945 with 1,131,193 fatalities as of Wednesday morning.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States has witnessed 300,000 more deaths than usual, according to a new official report.

Citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the report showed that from February to September, deaths reported in the United States usually would be about 1.9 million, while this year, the number is close to 2.2 million, up by 14.5 per cent.

CDC officials said the coronavirus was involved in about "two-thirds of the excess deaths," and it is likely that the virus has been a factor leading to many other deaths, too.

"For example, someone with heart attack symptoms may have hesitated to go to a hospital that was busy with coronavirus patients," they said.

Meanwhile, Brazil has counted 5,273,954 cases with 154,837 fatalities.

Europe is facing a second wave of Covid-19, but this time around, some cities are resisting virus restrictions.

Cities in the UK, France, Spain and other countries are against tightening restrictions and closing businesses again. But with over 200,000 deaths across the continent, leaders are struggling to keep the virus contained.

Report from New Delhi adds: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the government was working rapidly to ensure the supply of Covid-19 vaccines to all citizens once they are available.

Report from Frankfurt adds: GlaxoSmithKline said it would move its experimental vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a cause of pneumonia in toddlers and the elderly, into the final stage of testing, encouraged by mid-stage trial results.

RSV vaccine development has been fraught with setbacks for decades but the pharma industry is gearing up to bring a first inoculation to market over the next few years.

The area is a key growth opportunity for GSK, as it seeks to offset declining sales of its blockbuster lung drug Advair due to generic competition.

GSK said a Phase I/II trial with about 1,000 healthy adults aged 60-80 showed that the vaccine prompted a "robust" increase in antibodies and immune cells one month after injection, indicating a stimulated immune system.