Over 3K deaths, 89K infections worldwide
UN says in the last 24 hours there had been more coronavirus cases outside China than inside; Iran death toll rises to 66 as Italy sees 52 deaths
BRUSSELS: The death toll from the new coronavirus epidemic surpassed 3,000 on Monday as more people died in China, Iran, the US, and Europe.
The virus has now infected nearly 90,000 people across 54 countries — after first emerging in China late last year.
Iran reported 12 more deaths on Monday, raising the country’s toll to 66, the second biggest after China. South Korea, the biggest nest of infections outside China, reported nearly 500 new cases on Monday, raising its total past 4,000. Four more people died in South Korea, taking its toll to 22.
In Italy, Europe’s hardest-hit country, infections nearly doubled to around 1,700 cases over the weekend.
The World Health Organization said the number of new coronavirus cases registered outside of China in the past day was almost nine times more than those reported in it.
BRUSSELS: The World Health Organization voiced concern Monday about the spread of the new coronavirus outside China as the global death toll topped 3,000.
More people have died in China, Iran and the United States from the virus, which has now infected nearly 90,000 people with cases in over 60 countries.
The epidemic threatens to cause a global economic slowdown, while airlines cancelled or reduced flights and stock markets swung wildly on Monday.
With fears of a pandemic on the rise after the virus first emerged in China late last year, the WHO urged all countries to stock up on critical care ventilators to treat patients with severe symptoms.
The UN’s health agency also announced on Monday that in the last 24 hours there had been almost nine times more COVID-19 cases reported outside China than inside.
In Brussels, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) increased its risk assessment for Europeans to “moderate to high”. Hours later, Italy announced its deaths from the virus had jumped 18 to 52.
Italy is Europe’s worst-affected country with around 1,700 infections and 52 dead, 18 of them since Sunday.
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said there were more than 2,100 confirmed cases across 18 member states.
Elsewhere in Europe, Sweden barred flights from Iran - where cases have rapidly ballooned while France Germany and the UK said they would send medical and financial aid to the Middle Eastern nation struggling to contain the outbreak.
Iran reported 12 more deaths on Monday, raising the country’s toll to 66, the second biggest after China. Authorities uncovered a stash of hoarded medical supplies including millions of glove.
The hoarded supplies, including 28 million medical gloves, were found in two warehouses in Kahrizak, a town about 25km south of Tehran, a Revolutionary Guards commander, Hassan Hassanzadeh, told the Fars news agency. AWHO technical team flew into Tehran to help with the response in the country with the most deaths outside China, where the flu-like disease originated.
China reported 42 more deaths on Monday - all in central Hubei province. The pathogen is believed to have originated in a market that sold wild animals in Hubei’s capital Wuhan.
The death toll in China alone rose to 2,912, but it is also surging abroad. Infections are now rising faster abroad than in China, as the country’s drastic measures, including quarantining some 56 million people in Hubei since late January, appear to be paying off.
South Korea, the biggest nest of infections outside China, reported nearly 500 new cases on Monday, raising its total past 4,000.
A second person died in the northwestern US state of Washington and New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo warned the coronavirus would spread in the global financial hub.
“There is no doubt that there will be more cases. This is New York, we’re a gateway to the world,” Cuomo said. His comments came after a 39-year-old woman tested positive in Manhattan over the weekend. He said she had mild symptoms and was recovering at home.