According to recent figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 200,000 people worldwide have now died with the coronavirus.
There are more than 2.8 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, the tally shows.
It comes after the US death toll passed 50,000, as Americans endure the world’s deadliest outbreak.
Chinese state media reported the first known death linked to the virus on January 11. More than 210 countries and territories have since reported cases.
Five countries have now reported death tolls above 20,000 although the way fatalities are counted varies widely.
The US, Spain and Italy have seen the highest number of reported fatalities.
France, which does include deaths in care homes in its statistics, said its toll had risen by 369 on April 25.
There have been 22,614 virus deaths in France since the start of March, but health officials say the mortality rate in hospitals is falling, and the number of people in intensive care has dropped for the seventeenth consecutive day.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says patients who have recovered from the virus may not be protected against re-infection.
Earlier this week, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted upward trends in Covid-19 cases in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central America and South America.
Dr Tedros said that while most of the epidemics in Western Europe appeared to be stable or in decline, for many countries the disease was just getting started.
He said: “And some (countries) that were affected early in the pandemic are now starting to see a resurgence in cases.”
One such country is Singapore, which was initially praised for its success in containing the virus, but has since seen a surge of infections linked to industrial worksites and tightly packed worker dormitories.
Elsewhere in Asia, Chinese authorities reported no new deaths for the tenth consecutive day on April 25, and South Korea had its second day without a death.
Statisticians have cautioned that a reported death toll may not always give the full picture of a country’s epidemic.
The US has seen the most coronavirus deaths of any individual country, for example, but also has a far larger population than most.
With 330 million people, the US population exceeds the total number of people living in the five largest countries in Western Europe – the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Many European countries have reported more deaths per head of population than the US, and Europe as a whole has reported more deaths overall.
Death rates also depend on who is counted. Some countries are including deaths in care homes in their data, giving a fuller picture, whereas others only count deaths in hospital where Covid-19 has been confirmed.
Scrutiny over New York’s coronavirus outbreak response has deepened after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state recorded its highest single-day increase in virus deaths on April 7.
New York reported 731 deaths bringing the total to 5,489 deaths and 138,836 infections.
Authorities faced questions over their actions for at-risk people after an infected inmate at Rikers Island jail died.
Michael Tyson, 53, died waiting for a hearing over a non-criminal offence.
As of April 5, 286 inmates and 331 staffers in New York City’s jails have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The outbreak in NYC’s jail system is one of the worst at correctional facilities throughout the US, just as New York state leads the country in both total coronavirus cases and deaths since the virus reached the US.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit
Governor Cuomo disclosed that New York, which has been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, saw its highest number of fatalities in a 24 hour period between April 6 and April 7.
The change came after New York had seen two days of slowing infection rates and fewer deaths.
However, Governor Cuomo said the three day average for cases had fallen. However, he warned that New Yorkers must continue to follow health guidelines to socially distance and stay indoors.
He also asked people to avoid large gatherings as religious holidays Passover and Easter approach.
Governor Cuomo has so far ordered the release of at least 1,100 prisoners. Responding to questions on Tuesday, an aide to the governor said the state was “continuing to evaluate” the situation in New York’s jails in relation to the virus.
President Donald Trump has warned Americans to prepare for the “toughest week” of the coronavirus pandemic yet, predicting a surge in deaths.
At his daily briefing, the president said “there will be death” in a grim assessment of the days ahead.
Donald Trump sought to reassure the worst-hit states, promising medical supplies and military personnel to combat the virus.
However, in contrast to his warning, President Trump suggested easing social-distancing guidelines for Easter.
At a news conference at the White House on April 4, he said: “We have to open our country again.
“We don’t want to be doing this for months and months and months.”
President Trump’s calls to relax restrictions on life came on the day confirmed coronavirus infections in the US surpassed 300,000, the highest number in the world.
As of April 4, there were almost 8,500 deaths from Covid-19 in the US, with most in New York state – the epicenter of the outbreak.
On the same day, New York state recorded 630 more Covid-19 deaths, another daily record that takes its toll to 3,565. New York state now has almost as many cases – over 113,000 – as the whole of Italy.
The president gave a candid assessment of what lies ahead for the US in the coming weeks.
He said: “This will be probably the toughest week between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death than if this wasn’t done but there will be death.”
To support states in their fight against Covid-19, President Trump said his administration would be deploying a “tremendous amount of military, thousands of soldiers, medical workers, professionals”.
The military personnel will “soon” be advised of their assignments, the president said, adding that “1,000 military personnel” were being deployed to New York City.
President Trump also addressed his use of the Defense Production Act, a Korean-War-era law which gives him powers to control the production and supply of US-made medical products.
He said he was “very disappointed” with 3M, a US company that makes masks, saying it “should be taking care of our country” instead of selling to others.
However, the president rejected accusations that the US had committed an act of “modern piracy” by redirecting 200,000 Germany-bound masks for its own use.
On the question of easing social-distancing restrictions, President Trump reiterated a familiar theme.
President Trump has said: “The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself.”
Elsewhere in the world, there has been cause for optimism as the number of new infections and deaths from coronavirus has started to gradually diminish.
Globally, more than 60,000 people have died and more than 1.1 million have been infected, Johns Hopkins University says.
Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus
pandemic began, has partially re-opened after more than two months of
isolation.
Crowds of passengers were pictured arriving at Wuhan train station on March
28.
According to reports, people are being allowed to enter but not leave.
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, saw more than 50,000 coronavirus cases.
At least 3,000 people in the province died from the disease.
However, numbers have fallen dramatically, according to China’s figures. On
March 28, the state reported 54 new cases emerging the previous day – which it
said were all imported.
As it battles to control cases coming from abroad, China has announced a
temporary ban on all foreign visitors, even if they have visas or residence
permits. It is also limiting Chinese and foreign airlines to one flight per
week, and flights must not be more than 75% full.
The new coronavirus is thought to
have originated in a seafood market in Wuhan that “conducted illegal
transactions of wild animals”.
Wuhan’s 11 million residents have
been shut off from the rest of the world since the middle of January, with
roadblocks around the outskirts and drastic restrictions on daily life.
However, roads reopened to incoming traffic late on March 27, according to
Reuters.
State media said the subway was open from March 28 and trains would be able
to arrive at the city’s 17 railway stations.
All arrivals in Wuhan have to show a green code on a mobile app to prove
that they are healthy.
Officials say restrictions on people leaving Wuhan will be lifted on April 8,
when domestic flights are also expected to restart.
The new coronavirus emerged in China in December 2019 and more than 3,300
people there have died from the infection – but both Italy and Spain now have
higher death tolls.
It is now battling to control a wave of imported cases as infections soar
abroad.
This so-called “second wave” of imported infections is also
affecting countries like South Korea and Singapore, which had been successful
in stopping the spread of disease in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the virus continues to
spread rapidly in other countries around the world.
Nearly 600,000 infections have been confirmed globally and almost 28,000 deaths, according to figures collated by Johns Hopkins University.
All 50 states in the US have been
hit by the deadly coronavirus as West Virginia reported its first case of the
infection on March 17.
Announcing the state’s first
Covid-19 patient, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said: “We knew this was coming.”
So far, there are 108 deaths in the
US from coronavirus and more than 6,300 confirmed cases nationwide.
Globally, there are 217,325 cases and
8,917 people have died as of March 18.
As the Trump administration seeks a $1
trillion stimulus package, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reportedly warned
Republican senators privately on March 17 that if Congress failed to act, US
unemployment could hit 20% – almost double the jobless rate during the Great
Recession after the 2008 financial crisis.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would decide within two days whether to
order the city’s 8.5 million residents to “shelter in place”.
Such a move could largely confine people to their homes, while allowing them
to make necessary trips to buy groceries or medicine, walk a dog or exercise as
long as they avoid public interaction.
The mayor said: “It’s a very,
very difficult decision.
“We’ve never been here before. I
have never heard of anything like this in the history of New York City.”
However, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has suggested he would reject such a
plan.
Meanwhile, officials in the San Francisco Bay area have already ordered 6.7 million residents to stay home for all but the most crucial outings until April 7.
The Iranian government has decided to limit
travel between its major cities as it tries to halt the spread of the
coronavirus, which has killed at least 107 people in the country.
Iran has already shut schools until April.
Health Minister Saeed Namaki said people should not use the break as an opportunity
to travel.
He also urged people to reduce the use of paper banknotes.
The measures come as the WHO warned some countries were not doing enough to
stop the virus.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted containment was still
possible, adding: “This is not a
time to give up.”
Iran is one of the worst-hit countries outside China, where the Covid-19
virus – which causes the coronavirus disease – originated.
Worldwide, authorities have confirmed more than 92,000 cases of the virus,
of which more than 80,000 are in China.
According to recent reports, more than 3,000 people have died globally, the
vast majority of them in China.
On March 5, Iran’s official death toll rose by 15 to 107, and the number of
confirmed cases increased by 591 to 3,513.
Iran’s state news agency Irna said the number of dead could be higher,
citing data from medical universities.
The data did not include statistics from the capital Tehran and Gilan province – two of the hardest-hit areas. The toll there was listed as “unknown”, Irna said.
1,523 people have died from the
virus within China, mostly in Hubei province, where it first emerged. These
include 143 deaths newly reported on February 15 by China’s national health
commission.
A further 2,641 people have been
newly confirmed as infected, bringing China’s total cases to 66,492.
However, China’s Foreign Minister
Wang Yi said on February 15 that the outbreak in Hubei was now being managed
more effectively – “indicating that overall the epidemic is
controllable”.
Speaking at a security conference in
Germany, Wang Yi said the number of people who had recovered reached more than
8,000 on February 14.
At the same meeting, the head of the
WHO said all countries should be prepared for the arrival of the virus.
In late January, France became the
first European country to confirm cases of the virus. It has had 11 confirmed
cases of the disease, officially called Covid-19. Six people remain in
hospital.
The Chinese tourist in France had
been in a critical condition in the Bichat hospital in northern Paris, the
health minister said. He died of a lung infection due to the coronavirus.
His 50-year-old daughter is among
the six in hospital with the virus, but she is recovering, the minister said.
The other five people are British nationals
who caught the virus at a chalet in the ski resort of Contamines-Montjoie.
Outside mainland China, there have
been more than 500 cases in 26 countries.
Earlier in the day, the US said it
was sending a plane to Japan to evacuate Americans stuck on the Diamond
Princess cruise ship, which is being held in quarantine in a Japanese port.
According to Japan’s NHK broadcaster,
some 400 US citizens are reported to be on the cruise ship. Those with symptoms
are expected to be treated in Japan.
Out of 3,700 people on board, 218
have tested positive for the virus. Australia also said it was considering
removing its citizens from the ship.
Meanwhile, an 83-year-old American
woman on a cruise ship which docked in Cambodia, has tested positive for the
virus after arriving by air in Malaysia.
The MS Westerdam had been turned
away by five destinations, including the US island of Guam, before Cambodia
agreed it could land.
The woman and her husband were among
145 passengers from the ship who flew to Malaysia after it docked. According to
the Malaysian health authorities Both showed symptoms, but he tested negative.
No cases were found on board the cruise
ship during regular health checks on the 1,455 passengers and 802 crew.
On February 14, Egypt’s health ministry confirmed the first case of the coronavirus in Africa. The ministry described the person as a foreigner, but did not disclose their nationality.
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