The worldwide coronavirus death toll has risen to 160,000 today – with more than two million cases declared across the globe.
Some 2,334,130 cases of the deadly virus have been registered across 193 countries since the pandemic first emerged in China in December.
Of these patients, at least 518,900 are considered to have recovered and a total of 160,685 have died.
More than 100,000 of this total have passed away in Europe alone, according to a macabre tally by Johns Hopkins University.
These figures, drawn from the World Health Organisation and national authorities, are believed to reflect only a fraction of the true number of infections as most nations are only testing those with severe symptoms.
In the US, which is now the worst-hit country, the death toll soared to 39,115 today amid 741,866 infections, up 28,486 from the day before.
Despite these statistics, President Trump cited ‘positive signs’ in the fight against the pandemic on Saturday and suggested the worst is over.
‘We continue to see a lot of positive signs that the virus has passed its peak,’ the President said, just days after the White House issued guidelines for the loosening of lockdown measures.
Trump said that Texas and Vermont will allow some businesses to re-open next week, with strict social distancing measures still being enforced.
Residents in Florida and other states returned to the beach Saturday despite an increase in Covid-19 deaths and infections. Meanwhile, three Northeastern states reopened boatyards and marinas for personal use only.
Some states are expected to gradually ease lockdown restrictions while other areas, such as New York, have issued no indication that measures will be relaxed any time soon.
Italy is the second most affected country, with 23,227 reported deaths and 175,925 confirmed infections.
But the nation yesterday reported its lowest daily increase in coronavirus deaths since April 12, with 482 confirmed to have passed away due to the virus.
The number of new cases identified also fell to give a rise of 3,491, bringing the total to 175,925.
The number of people in intensive care dropped by 79 to 2,733. Almost half this number are in Lombardy, the epicentre of the country’s outbreak.
This plateau is down considerably from peaks reached around the end of March, but the downtrend has not proceeded as was widely hoped.
‘We are working on some proposals to soften the restrictive measures and let everyone live safely with the virus during the next months,’ Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told newspaper ‘Il Giornale today.
Spain has recorded some 20,453 fatalities and 195,944 confirmed infections, as France reported 19,323 deaths and 151,793 infections.
The UK is the fifth most affected nation, with a further 596 coronavirus deaths announced today in the country’s lowest daily rise for two weeks.
The new figures bring the death toll to 16,060, with the number of cases having jumped 5,850 to 120,067.
In China, there have been 4,631 deaths declared amid 82,735 cases of the virus.
***
Source: Daily Mail UK
