Over 6m people have died worldwide from COVID-19

PARIS: Over six million people have died worldwide from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Tuesday.

A total of 6,001,585 people have succumbed to the virus, AFP counted at 0900 GMT.

The milestone comes as the number of infections and deaths continue to plummet in most regions of the world, except in Asia, where Hong Kong is suffering its worst-ever outbreak, and Oceania, where New Zealand has recorded a jump in cases. 

Average global daily deaths over the past seven days have fallen to 7,170, down 18% in a week, continuing a trend seen since the peak of the Omicron wave in mid-February despite many countries relaxing restrictions.

The United States has recorded 960,311 deaths from the coronavirus, followed by Brazil on 652,341 and India on 515,102.

While much of the world is learning to live with the disease, China remains committed to stamping it out and has instructed Hong Kong to also pursue a zero-tolerance approach.

Hong Kong has launched controversial plans to test all 7.4 million residents and build a network of isolation camps. The number of weekly infections in the city has doubled in a week to 290,987 while the number of deaths has more than tripled to 1,543.

AFP's tally is based on COVID-19 deaths reported by national health authorities.

The World Health Organization believes that the real figure could be two to three times higher.