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 Wednesday reported 99 new cases of COVID-19 and no virus related deaths, pushing the total number of confirmed cases recorded on the island since the start of the pandemic to 92,226.

— The Caribbean Tourism COVID-19 Task Force on Wednesday urged Caribbean people to continue to protect themselves and the health and lives of those around them by practising sound health safety measures, while celebrating the spirit of the season.

— The UK government is to buy millions of doses of new COVID antiviral pills from Pfizer and US rival Merck/MSD as the Omicron variant rages through the country.

— Life expectancy in the United States dropped by 1.8 years to 77, the steepest fall in more than 75 years, driven in large part by the pandemic.

— In China, all 13 million residents of the northern Chinese city of Xi’an were on Wednesday ordered to stay at home after 52 new cases were found there.

— The US has suffered the most COVID-related deaths with 810,164, followed by Brazil with 617,948, India with 478,325 and Russia with 300,269.

Read the full stories here:

Jamaica reports 99 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths

Regional task force urges Caribbean people to spread joy, not COVID this festive season

UK buys millions of COVID pills, cuts isolation period

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.