The 100 millionth coronavirus case has been recorded worldwide – just over a year since the first officially diagnosed case of the deadly virus.
The total number of cases reached 100,032,461 on Tuesday evening (UK time), while at least 2,149,818 people have died after catching the illness, according to Johns Hopkins University in the US.
The three worst-affected countries – the US, India and Brazil – account for more than two-fifths of all global cases.
At more than 25 million, the US has the highest number and has suffered more than 400,000 deaths.
India is the second worst-hit country, having recorded more than 10 million cases and more than 150,000 deaths.
With nearly nine million, Brazil has fewer cases but more deaths than India – at least 217,000.
The virus was first officially identified on 16 January last year – more than two weeks after the World Health Organisation (WHO) noted Chinese reports of an outbreak of a “viral pneumonia” of “unknown origin”.
To start with, Asia was the worst-hit region, but since then Europe and the Americas have taken over and in March 2020, amid sharply-rising cases worldwide, WHO declared it a pandemic.
A mass vaccination programme is under way as governments rush to protect their populations against coronavirus.
The UK, which is currently in its third lockdown, has vaccinated more than six-and-a-half million people, including four-fifths of the over-80s, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday.
The pandemic has dramatically changed the way people across the world live their lives.
People have been forced to stay indoors, wear masks when out, work from home and stop shaking hands – to name a few of the challenges it has thrown up.