CORONAVIRUS CASES SURPASS 8.1 MILLION ACROSS WORLD
Total number of death toll due to COVID-19 surged to more than 441,000
WASHINGTON DC: The global number of COVID-19 cases has increased to over 8.1 million mark, while the death toll surged to over 441,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
As of Wednesday morning, the total number of cases stood at 8,155,266, while the fatalities increased to 441,505, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update. With 2,137,707 cases and 116,962 deaths, the US continues with the world's highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities, according to the CSSE. In terms of cases, Brazil comes in the second place with 923,189 infections.
This was followed by Russia (544,725), India (343,091), the UK (299,600), Spain (244,328), Italy (237,500), Peru (237,156), France (194,347), Iran (192,439), Germany (188,252), Turkey (181,298), Chile (184,449), Mexico (154,863), Pakistan (148,921), Saudi Arabia (136,315) and Canada (101,085), the CSSE figures showed.
With 45,241 COVID-19 deaths, Brazil accounts for the second highest number of fatalities in the world.
The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are the UK (42,054), Italy (34,405), France (29,550), Spain (27,136) and Mexico (18,310).
The death toll from COVID19 has remained unchanged in Spain for nine consecutive days, the data published by the Spanish Ministry of Health showed on Tuesday.
Answering a question from Xinhua, the Ministry of Health admitted that there's a delay in data updates as the country's 17 Autonomous Communities were “refining their data and introducing that data into the system.”
But it said it has confidence that the “Communities will soon be able to introduce their data and we can bring the statistics up to date.”
Tuesday also saw 76 new cases of COVID-19 detected by PCR tests, compared to 40 registered in the previous 24-hour period. Among the new cases, 56 were from Madrid and Catalonia, while none of Spain's remaining Autonomous Communities reported more than three infections.
Meanwhile, the Basque region in the north of Spain and the neighbouring Autonomous Community of Cantabria on Tuesday both confirmed they would be ending the State of Alarm on June 19 -- two days before the rest of the country. The State of Alarm prohibits movement between Spain's 17 different Autonomous Communities, with the aim of stopping the spread of the Coronavirus. On the other hand, a total of 111 COVID-19 patients in France succumbed to the Coronavirus-caused disease in the last 24 hours, while hospitalizations further declined, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
Of the deaths, 19,090 were registered in hospitals, a oneday rise of 38. At nursing homes and medico-social establishments, whose casualties are updated once a week on Tuesdays, 10,457 were reported dead, up by 73 from last week, Xinhua reported.
Currently, 10,535 patients are in hospitals, including 820 in intensive care. The two figures -- key indicators to evaluate the country's ability to cope with the epidemic -- fell by 217 and 26 respectively in the last 24 hours. Of the 103,451 hospitalized since early March, 73,335 have recovered and returned home. “The first epidemic wave is ending in Europe and in France's mainland. But the epidemic is far from over and the virus is still circulating,” warned Health General Director Jerome Salomon, addressing the National Assembly's investigative committee.
“We must anticipate a resurgence, even a second epidemic wave in autumn or winter. Failure to prepare for a second wave would be a major mistake,” he stressed. “Vigilance and caution must remain in place.”