KINGSTON, Jamaica — The novel coronavirus has infected more than 267.8 million people, leaving more than 5.3 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 on Tuesday reported 38 new cases of COVID-19 and one virus-related death, pushing the total number of confirmed cases recorded on the island since the start of the pandemic to 92,127 and the death toll to 2,450.

— The United States on Tuesday said it will distribute hundreds of millions of free COVID tests in the face of surging Omicron cases, which have forced governments worldwide to reimpose restrictions ahead of the holidays.  

— US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also announced that the country will give US$580 million in additional aid to international organizations to fight COVID-19 in the face of surging Omicron cases.

— The European Union is poised to limit the validity of vaccine recognition in its EU COVID certificate to nine months, its executive said on Tuesday, in a bid to encourage boosters.

— Europe’s medicines watchdog chief on Tuesday said there is “no answer yet” on whether vaccine makers will have to adapt their COVID shots to counter the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant.

— The United States has suffered the most COVID-related deaths with 807,952, followed by Brazil with 617,873, India with 478,007 and Russia with 299,249.

Read the full stories here:

Jamaica reports 38 new COVID-19 cases, one death

Washington to give additional US$580m in international COVID aid

EU watchdog says ‘no answer’ if Omicron-specific jab needed

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.