WORLD: 1,002,000 CONFIRMED CASES; 209,000 RECOVERED US, Spain deaths surge as world toll crosses 50,000

Madrid, April 3: More than a million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally and the number of confirmed coronavirus deaths accelerated past 50,000 on Friday as the US, Spain and Britain grappled with their highest tolls.

Nearly 53,000 people have died and more than 210,000 have recovered, according to figures released by John Hopkins University.

The US reported 1,169 deaths in 24 hours, the highest daily death toll of any country so far.

The US, with 236,000 patients, accounts for around a quarter of confirmed cases, but Europe is far from being out of danger — Spain reported 950 deaths in 24 hours on Friday, for the second day running.

The virus has now killed more 10,000 people across Spain.

While Italy still leads the world in fatalities with 13,915 deaths, France, Belgium and

Britain have also been hard hit. The UK government opened a 4,000-bed field hospital on Friday after a one-day toll of 569.

The threat posed by the pandemic has never been more stark.

Experts warn that the more than one million cases of Covid-19 disease confirmed globally are probably just a small proportion of total infections, as testing is not widely available.

It took a month and a half for the first 100,000 cases to be registered. A million was reached after a doubling in cases over the past week.

Nearly a quarter of cases have been registered in the US, while Europe accounts for around half.

The public health battle waged across the world ebbed and flowed on Friday, with Germany saying the rate of new infections is slowing, but Singapore confirming it would close schools and workplaces to fend off a possible renewed upsurge in cases.

Authorities in China’s Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, on Friday asked residents to stay at home and avoid non-essential outings amid fears of a possible rebound of the disease due to the steady rise in the asymptomatic cases, days after the nine-week lockdown was relaxed in the city.