KINGSTON, Jamaica — The novel coronavirus has infected more than 188.8 million people, leaving more than four million dead across 196 countries and territories.

The majority of those infected have recovered and many countries have rolled out vaccine campaigns as economies start to recover from the pandemic.

— Jamaica recorded 70 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and four deaths, bringing the country’s total confirmed cases to 50,983 and the death toll to 1,140.

— In Trinidad and Tobago, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley raised the possibility of the vaccine to combat the coronavirus becoming mandatory to the population should the virus mutate to the point of posing a serious threat to the country.

— The director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr Carissa F Etienne, on Friday said it is imperative to close the gap that separates children from the vaccines that can protect them from dangerous diseases.

— In the United Kingdom, the government’s top medical adviser warned that the number of people hospitalised with the coronavirus could reach “quite scary” levels within weeks as cases soar as a result of the more contagious delta variant and the lifting of lockdown restrictions.

— China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday promised US$3 billion in aid to developing countries to fight COVID-19 at an unprecedented emergency online meeting of APEC heads of state.

— A Hong Kong study on Friday showed that people who received BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine had ten times the amount of antibodies than those given China’s Sinovac, adding to growing data on different jabs’ effectiveness.

— The United States is the worst-affected country with 608,400 deaths, followed by Brazil with 538,942, India with 412,531, Mexico with 235,740, and Peru with 194,845.

Read the full stories:

Four more COVID deaths, 70 new cases

Trinidad hints at COVID-19 vaccine becoming mandatory

PAHO urges Caribbean countries to provide vaccines to protect children from diseases

‘Quite scary’: UK’s top medic in warning over COVID outlook

China pledges another $3 billion in COVID-19 aid to developing countries

BioNTech produces 10 times more antibodies than China’s Sinovac- study

ARE WE FLATTENING THE CURVE?here for interactive chart* with details on Jamaica’s numbers.here for a look at the numbers globally.

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*Data mined from various sources around the world.