News Desk :
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has crossed 1,245,235 in 208 countries and territories with 67,911 deaths and recovered 256,503, according to Worldometer.
The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care in Italy fell for the first time, the civil protection authority said on Saturday, while the country’s death toll from the epidemic rose by 681 to 15,362, a somewhat lower rise than ones seen in recent days.
There were 3,994 people in intensive care in Italy, down from a previous 4,068, the first time the total had fallen since the outbreak of the epidemic in northern Italy on February 21.
“This is very important news,” civil protection authority chief Angelo Borrelli told reporters of the drop over the past 24 hours. “It allows our hospitals to breathe.”
The total number of confirmed cases rose to 124,632 from the 119,827 reported on Friday, an increase of 4,805, slightly higher than the numbers over recent days that have encouraged hopes that the spread of the coronavirus has reached a plateau.
Of those originally infected nationwide, 20,996 were declared recovered on Saturday, compared with 19,758 a day earlier.
Borrelli has been extremely careful not to give Italians false hope in his daily rundown of how many people have died there. But his tone Saturday was markedly more upbeat.
He cast the figures showing Italy’s toll rising by 681 to 15,362 – officially higher than in any other country – in a positive light.
“This figure is constantly decreasing,” the civil protection service chief stressed.
“I want to remind you that [on March 27], we had almost 1,000 dead.”
Italy recorded 969 deaths that day – a record that stood until the United States reported nearly 1,500 fatalities between Thursday and Friday.
But officials here are still not declaring victory. Instead some are preparing the country for at least another month of life under a general lockdown that many would like to see end.
The drop in critical care patients “is a strong signal but it should absolutely not be read as a sign that we have overcome the critical stage,” the government’s scientific council head Franco Locatelli said. “It shows that the measures that we have been applying have had success.”
Milan’s northern Lombardy region – home to 10 million people and over a fifth of Italy’s total economic output – had been under lockdown since the end of February.
The measures there are getting more stringent by the day.
It banned jogging two weeks ago and announced a requirement for everyone to ware a facemask starting Sunday. The region’s shops will also have to provide customers with disposable plastic gloves.
Spain’s coronavirus death toll has risen by 674 to 12,418 in the last day, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
A day earlier the toll rose by 809.
The number of registered cases rose to 130,759 from 124,736, the ministry said.
The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has exceeded 300,000, while the death toll passed 8,100.
New York state’s coronavirus death toll has risen at a devastating pace to reach 3,565, up from 2,935 the previous day, the largest 24-hour jump recorded there.
The United Kingdom’s hospital death toll from the coronavirus rose by 20% to 4,313 at 1600 GMT on April 3, the health ministry said.
As of 0800 GMT on April 4, a total of 183,190 people have been tested of which 41,903 tested positive, the health ministry said.
COVID-19 deaths in English hospitals made up 3,939 of the UK total. Those who made up the 637 daily rise in English deaths were aged between five years and 104 years old.
Of the 637, 40 had no known underlying health conditions. They were aged between 48 and 93 years old.
Iran reported 151 more deaths from coronavirus on Sunday, pushing the death toll to 3,603, a health official said.
Kianoush Jahanpour, a spokesman for the Health Ministry, said that 2,483 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total infections to 58,226, according to Iran’s state TV.
Jahanpour said 22,011 people have so far recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while 4,057 patients are in critical condition.
Since appearing in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 181 countries and regions.
Data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University shows worldwide infections surpassing 1.2 million with nearly 65,000 deaths. An excess of 247,000 have recovered.
In India, the number of total cases is 3588, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. While 99 people have died of the disease, 229 have been discharged after treatment.
