KINGSTON, Jamaica — The novel coronavirus has infected more than 238.1 million people, leaving more than 4.8 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 72 new COVID-19 cases and nine deaths on Monday, bringing the infection total to 86,456 and the virus death toll to 2,034.

— The British government’s failure to impose a lockdown in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic ranks among England’s worst public health blunders, lawmakers concluded Tuesday in the country’s first comprehensive report on the pandemic.

—  The Barbados government has announced plans for the establishment of safe zones as the island continues to be impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-9) pandemic that has claimed 98 lives and infected 11,132 others since March last year.

— The ongoing hit from the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure to distribute vaccines worldwide is worsening the economic divide and darkening prospects for developing nations, the IMF said Tuesday.

— On Thursday and Friday, the Food and Drug Administration convenes its independent advisers for the first stage in the process of deciding whether extra doses of the Moderna and J&J vaccines should be dispensed and, if so, who should get them and when. The final go-ahead is not expected for at least another week.

— The United States is the worst-affected country with 714,060 deaths from 44,456,144 cases followed by Brazil with 601,213 deaths from 21,582,738 cases, India with 450,963 deaths from 33,985,920 cases, Mexico with 282,227 deaths from 3,725,242 cases, and Russia with 218,345 deaths from 7,832,964 cases.

Read full stories:

72 new COVID cases in Jamaica, nine more deaths

Report says UK’s slow virus lockdown cost 1000s of lives

Barbados gov’t moving to establish safe zones

IMF warns pandemic darkening prospects in developing countries

Next on FDA’s agenda: Booster shots of Moderna, J&J vaccines