More than 100 million coronavirus cases have been reported globally

People wear masks in front of the Eiffel Tower.

(Image credit: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images)

published 27 January 2021

The global number of confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassed 100 million on Tuesday.

The actual number of cases is likely much higher, experts say, but cases have been underreported due to inadequate testing and contact tracing. More than 2 million people have died of the virus worldwide, including 420,000 Americans, but that number is also believed to be higher.

There has been a sharp increase in cases since last summer — there were 25 million global coronavirus cases at the end of August, and that number doubled to 50 million by mid-November. The United States has had the world's worst coronavirus outbreak, and while the number of new daily cases has declined in recent days, the number of deaths has not; on average, more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths are reported daily in the U.S.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox