More than five million people have died from COVID-19 in less than two years, as the world continues to battle the highly infectious Delta variant of the virus.
Specifically, there have been 5,000,425 COVID-19 related deaths recorded around the world, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., 745,836 people have died due to COVID-19, making it the country with the highest number of recorded deaths.
And the pandemic, which first emerged in China in late 2019, continues to take a deadly toll around the world. It comes as many countries lift pandemic restrictions and end lockdowns that were imposed throughout 2020 in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
The rapid development of vaccines, which are clinically proven to greatly reduce severe infection, hospitalization and death from the disease, has helped to dramatically reduce the number of people dying from COVID-19, particularly in Western nations.
Still, there have been increasing concerns in recent months about a rise in infections, hospitalizations and deaths as winter approaches, not only among the unvaccinated but also among the elderly as vaccine immunity wanes over time.
COVID-19 has gone through several significant mutations that have caused it to spread faster, sparking new waves of infections in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Two mutations, now named the Alpha and Delta variants, have gone on to be dominant globally. A new mutation of the Delta variant is currently being assessed to see if it could make the virus even more infectious.
This so-called "Delta plus" variant is being reported in an increasing number of countries, including the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia. Last week, the World Health Organization said it was closely tracking the Delta subvariant, known formally as "AY.4.2," and that it had been reported in a total of 42 countries.
