Coronavirus tally: Global cases of COVID-19 top 131.8 million and U.S. death toll nears 556,000

The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness rose above 131.8 million on Tuesday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, while the death toll rose above 2.86 million. The U.S. continues to lead the world by cases, at 30.8 million, or about a quarter of the global tally, and fatalities, at 555,619. The U.S. added at least 76,594 new cases on Monday, according to a New York Times tracker, and at least 530 people died. The U.S. has averaged 64,851 cases a day for the last week, up 20% from the average two weeks ago, as cases continue to rise despite the vaccination program, a trend experts say is due to states reopening and dropping restrictions on movement and overall pandemic fatigue. The U.S. vaccine program is making good headway, however, with the CDC's vaccine tracker showing that 18.8% of the population is now fully vaccinated and 32.4% have had at least one jab. A number of states, including New York, New Jersey and Maryland, on Monday announced they will open their programs to 16 year olds and above in April. Outside of the U.S., Brazil is second globally in cases at 13 million and also second with a death toll at 332,752. India is third worldwide in cases with 12.7 million and fourth in deaths at 165,547. Mexico is third by deaths at 204,399 and 14th highest by cases at 2.3 million. The U.K. has 4.4 million cases and 127,106 deaths, the highest in Europe and fifth highest in the world.

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