News Desk :
The death toll from coronavirus reached 1,06,521 while infected 17,35,219 in 210 countries and territories around the world and recovered 3,92,858 according to worldometer.
Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 570 on Friday, down from 610 the day before, and the number of new cases also slowed modestly to 3,951 from a previous 4,204.
The latest tallies broadly confirm what experts describe as a plateau of new cases and deaths, which are no longer accelerating but are still not falling steeply.
The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 rose to 18,849, the Civil Protection Agency said, the highest in the world.
The number of officially confirmed cases climbed to 147,577, the third highest global tally behind those of the United States and Spain.
There were 3,497 people in intensive care on Friday against 3,605 on Thursday – a seventh consecutive daily decline.
Of those originally infected, 30,455 were declared recovered against 28,470 a day earlier.
The United States on Friday became the first country to record more than
2,000 coronavirus deaths in one day, with 2,108 fatalities in the past 24 hours, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.
The US has now recorded 18,586 deaths and is closing in on the toll of 18,849 dead in Italy, which has seen the most fatalities so far in the global pandemic.
America is also approaching half a million confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 496,535 as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Saturday), an increase of 35,098 in the past 24 hours.
The number of coronavirus deaths in Spain fell for a third consecutive day on Saturday, with 510 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours – the smallest overnight increase since March 23. Spain’s total death toll from COVID-19 disease rose to 16,353, the Health Ministry said in a statement, while the number of confirmed cases climbed to 161,852 from 157,022 a day earlier.
The slowdown is an encouraging sign for the country, which has suffered the third-highest number of casualties from the virus after Italy and the United States.
At the beginning of April, the overnight death tally rose as high as 950, overwhelming the national health service and forcing regional authorities to set up temporary mortuaries in an ice rink and disused public buildings.
But as the rate of new infections and deaths slows, the government has begun to contemplate a gradual unwinding of lockdown measures, which have kept most people confined to their homes since mid-March.
From Monday, workers in sectors such as construction and manufacturing will be allowed to return to work, though the government extended restrictions on movement across Spain’s land borders with France and Portugal for another two weeks.
The lockdown has caused major disruption to the Catholic country’s renowned Easter celebrations, forcing clergy and worshippers to devise creative ways to participate. In the eastern town of Villar del Arzobispo near Valencia, priest Raul Garcia held mass with photographs of his parishioners pinned to the pews, and invited them to watch the service online from home.
“It’s a way not to be alone in church and for people to feel like they’re accompanying me during,” he told Reuters Television.
The number of people who have died from coronavirus infection in France jumped by nearly 987 or 8 per cent to 13,197 as nursing home deaths swelled but fewer people were in intensive care as the effect of nationwide confinement started to show.
The total number of confirmed and probable coronavirus infections in the country rose by 7,120 to 124,869, although the ministry does not provide a total, splitting the number instead between cases in hospitals and cases in nursing homes. That total number is set to increase as just under 5,000 out of 7,400 homes so far have reported coronavirus cases to the government, a ministry official said, Reuters reported.
The health ministry said on Friday that 7,004 people were in intensive care, a fall of 62 or 0.9 per cet following a 1 per cent fall on Thursday.
“We seem to be reaching a plateau, albeit a high level,” health ministry director Jerome Salomon told a daily press briefing by video.
But the death toll picked up again, with the number of people dying in hospitals up by 554 or 7 per cent to 8,598 on Friday, after increasing 5 per cent on Thursday.
The number of people who died in nursing homes – according to incomplete data that cover several days and do not include all nursing homes – went up by 433 or 10 per cent to 4,599 and now make up more than a third of the total toll. A Paris nursing home where more than 20 people have died had not yet reported its death toll to the government, a health official said on Friday.
The number of registered coronavirus infections also kept growing quickly. Unlike other major countries such as Italy, Spain and the United States, which report one single overall number for coronavirus cases, France reports two separate tallies: one for hospitals and one for nursing homes.
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in hospitals grew by 5 per cent for the fourth day in a row and reached 90,676. The number of cases in nursing homes – which includes confirmed, probable and possible cases – jumped by 2,778 or 9 per cent to 34,193.
The widely followed Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 page http:/www.drstat.com, which tallies confirmed and presumptive positive cases, put the combined number at 125,930, which sets France in fourth place behind the United States, Spain and Italy.
A ministry official said the hospital and nursing home cases cannot simply be added up as there is some overlap, since some confirmed cases in nursing homes are included in the number of confirmed cases in hospitals.
To determine the presence of COVID-19 in nursing homes, France only tests the first three presumed cases. Other residents showing symptoms are presumed to be infected.
The ministry could not immediately provide a breakdown of confirmed and probable cases in nursing homes but said it is working to sort out the issue.
The UK death toll from COVID-19 has risen by 980 to 8,958, health minister Matt Hancock said on Friday, its biggest daily rise to date.
The toll exceeded the deadliest day reported by Italy on March 28, the country worst hit by the coronavirus.
Hancock urged Britons not to leave their homes over the Easter holidays, during which hot weather is expected.
“This Easter will be another test of the nation’s resolve,” he said at a news conference in Downing Street.
Hancock confirmed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s health was improving after leaving a three-night spell of intensive care on Thursday.
Johnson, who is being treated for COVID-19, is now able to take short walks, a Downing Street spokesman said earlier. Iran’s total death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak rose to 4,357 on Saturday, with 125 people having lost their lives in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.
The total number of people diagnosed with the disease rose by 1,837 in the past 24 hours to a total of 70,029, ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpur said on state TV, with 3,987 of those infected in critical condition.
Iran is the country most affected by the pandemic in the Middle East.
