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The novel coronavirus has infected at least 219,058 people and killed at least 8,939 worldwide as of March 19.
The World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on March 11, since which time is has spread further and faster than ever before.
Europe is the new epicenter of the disease. It is also infecting increasing numbers of people in the US and other nations. At least 159 countries and territories have reported cases.
China – where the virus first began to spread in late 2019 – has seen a sharp drop-off in its rate of new cases.
The virus has now taken a heavier toll outside China than inside it, in overall infections and deaths.
More than 84,000 people known to be infected have since recovered, mostly in China.
Many countries have declared nationwide lockdowns and states of emergency to slow the spread of the virus, including the US. The US, the EU, and many other nations have closed their borders or otherwise dramatically cut the amount of international travel. Governments worldwide have committed more than one trillion dollars to mitigating the economic fallout of the virus and widespread quarantining, which is expected to bring about a global recession. The US has reported cases in every state and has confirmed 153 coronavirus deaths. China on Thursday marked a major milestone in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic as it recorded zero domestic infections for the first time since the outbreak emerged, but a spike in imported cases threatened its progress. There were eight more deaths in China-all in Hubei-raising the nationwide total to 3,245, according to the commission.
There have been nearly 81,000 infections in China but only 7,263 people remain sick with the COVID-19 disease. The global number has shot past 200,000, with more than 8,700 deaths.
On March 10, President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan for the first time since the outbreak began and declared that the spread of the disease was “basically curbed”. On the same day, Hubei officials allowed people to travel within the province for the first time since January, excluding Wuhan.
The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has surged in the last 24 hours by 475 to 2,978, an increase of 19%, the biggest jump in numerical terms since the contagion came to light last month, officials said on Wednesday.
The total number of cases in Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus, rose to 35,713 from a previous 31,506, up 13.35%, the Civil Protection Agency said.
Of those originally infected, 4,025 had fully recovered compared to 2,941 the day before. Some 2,257 people were in intensive care against a previous 2,060.
Iran’s death toll from coronavirus jumped to 1,284 on Thursday, the health ministry said, with the total number of infections rising to 18,407 in the Islamic Republic, the worst-affected country in the Middle East.
The spread of the virus has dampened Iran’s celebrations for the Nowruz new year that begin on Friday. Authorities have urged people to stay home and avoid travelling during the new year holidays to help contain coronavirus contagion. “With 149 new deaths in the past 24 hours, the death toll from the virus has reached 1,284. Unfortunately we had 1,046 new cases of infection since yesterday,” deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi said on state television. The government has ordered the closure of schools and universities and banned sports, cultural and religious gatherings. Nuclear energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi told state TV on Thursday that Iran would not mark its annual day celebrating its nuclear programme because of the coronavirus outbreak.
At least 598 people have lost their lives in Spain due to COVID-19 and another 13,716 have been confirmed to have the virus, according to data released by the Spanish Health Ministry on Wednesday.
The country reported over 100 deaths and 2,500 new confirmed cases in one day, while other 774 are in intensive care units (ICUs). “At the moment, there are some ICUs that are overwhelmed, but most in the country are still functioning normally,” said Fernando Simon, head of Spain’s emergency services.
Since last Sunday, the country has only been testing either those with acute respiratory infection who need to be hospitalized or essential workers, meaning the recently confirmed cases are serious. Simon said the country hopes to increase testing in the coming days. Spain is the fourth-worst affected country in the world by the pandemic and has been in lockdown since last Saturday evening. On Wednesday, a director of the Spanish police force confirmed in a press conference that 73 people have been detained for not obeying the emergency law, which forbids people from leaving their homes for non-essential reasons. Land borders with EU countries have also been established, and in over 24-hours, the government reported that 834 people have been denied entry to Spain. On Tuesday, Spain’s Prime Minister announced the largest economic stimulus in the country’s history to deal with the economic impacts of the virus-valued at up to €200 billion ($219 billion). It will mobilize liquidity for businesses and guarantee basic social protections for those affected by the virus.
On Wednesday, the Spanish parliament held an extraordinary session to discuss the measures. Before today, it had been closed after several politicians tested positive. Most of the parliamentary seats were empty and each time a new politician spoke, a cleaner had to disinfect the microphone and podium. In the session, there were some disagreements and calls for stronger measures, but in general, the politicians were supportive of the government’s actions. Worldwide, out of over 203,500 confirmed cases, the death toll now exceeds 8,200, while more than 82,500 patients have recovered, according to Worldometer, a statistics website that compiles new case numbers. The number of active cases is more than 112,500 — 94% mild and 6% in critical condition, according to the website. The World Health Organization has declared Europe the new epicenter of the virus, which first emerged in Wuhan, China last December.
French health authorities reported 89 new deaths from coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the total to 264, or an increase of almost 51 percent, as the country was in its second day of a lockdown aimed at containing the outbreak.
At a press briefing Wednesday evening, French health agency director Jérôme Salomon added the number of coronavirus cases had risen to 9,134 – up from 7,730 on Tuesday, which is a rise of 18 percent in 24 hours.
Salomon said 931 people were in serious condition and needing life support. The spike came as the country experienced the second day of a lockdown, with around 100,000 police and gendarmes deployed across the country to enforce the new measures, with people only allowed to leave home for officially sanctioned reasons such as going to work, shopping for necessities or getting medical treatment. The fast-spreading disease that jumped from animals to humans in China has now infected more than 205,470 people across the world and caused 8,248 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, triggering emergency lockdowns and injections of cash unseen since World War Two.
There was particular alarm in Italy, which reported 475 new deaths, the biggest increase since the outbreak started and the highest one-day total posted by any nation. It brought the total number of deaths in the country to 2,978, an increase of 19 percent. The total number of confirmed cases in Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus, rose to 35,713 from 31,506.
