Monitoring Desk:
The novel coronavirus has killed over 300,000 people across the globe since its outbreak last year, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University, as the pandemic passed yet another bleak milestone on Thursday.
More than 4.4 million cases have also been recorded, according to the university’s count. Given the varied ways in which different countries report Covid-19 figures and the vast societal impact of the pandemic, the true number of infections and fatalities could be far higher.
The virus nonetheless captures a world slowed to a standstill by the virus, with governments just beginning to creep out of crippling lockdowns and powerhouses like the United States and United Kingdom still struggling to get a handle on their outbreaks.
It comes as a World Health Organization official said the day that the virus may “never go away”.
