Tag: Deaths

Russia Records Highest Daily COVID-19 Death Toll

FILE PHOTO: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP.

 

Russia on Tuesday recorded its highest daily death toll since the outbreak of the pandemic as the country grapples with a spike in infections spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant.

An official government tally reported 652 coronavirus fatalities over the past 24 hours, topping a record that was set in December last year.

A record-high number of daily deaths — 119 — was also reported in Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg that is due to host a Euro 2020 quarterfinal on Friday.

Some experts say that Russia vastly underreports coronavirus fatalities, counting only cases when Covid-19 was found to be the primary cause of death after autopsy.

Nationwide infections grew by 20,616, bringing Russia’s caseload to nearly 5.5 million — the fifth highest worldwide, according to an AFP tally.

Over the past few weeks, Saint Petersburg and the capital Moscow have been hit by a surge of infections, with authorities re-introducing virus restrictions.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said that the Delta variant first identified in India accounts for 90 percent of cases in the capital.

To curb the spread of infections, the mayor ordered Moscow’s businesses to send home 30 percent of non-vaccinated employees and restaurants to allow inside only patrons who have been inoculated or infected in the past six months.

Moscow also became the first Russian city to introduce mandatory vaccinations, requiring at least 60 percent of service industry workers to be fully inoculated by mid-August.

Several Russian regions followed suit, requiring certain groups of citizens to get one of Russia’s jabs while polls show that the population remains sceptical of homegrown vaccines.

Despite free jabs having been available since December, just 22.2 million out of a population of about 146 million had received at least one dose as of Monday, according to the Gogov website, which tallies Covid figures from the regions and the media.

With 134,545 deaths from the virus, Russia has the highest toll from Covid-19 in Europe — even as authorities have been accused of downplaying the severity of the country’s outbreak.

Under a broader definition for deaths linked to coronavirus, statistics agency Rosstat at the end of April said that Russia has seen at least 270,000 fatalities since the pandemic began.

AFP

Moscow’s COVID-19 Deaths Spike As Asia-Pacific Countries Lockdown

File Photo: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

 

Moscow on Sunday recorded the worst daily coronavirus death toll so far for a Russian city, as countries across the Asia-Pacific region extended or reimposed restrictions to tackle fresh waves of infections.

The pandemic has now killed close to four million people across the world but vaccination drives have brought down infection numbers in many wealthy countries, though the Delta strain of the virus remains a concern.

The variant is now in 85 countries and is the most contagious of any Covid-19 strain identified, according to the World Health Organization.

Still, in much of Europe and the United States curbs on daily life are easing as vaccination programmes bear fruit, although Russia is grappling with a deadly third wave.

The Russian capital on Sunday recorded 144 Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, a day after Saint Petersburg set the previous highest figure.

Saint Petersburg has hosted six Euro 2020 matches and is due to host a quarter-final on Friday, with spectator numbers capped at half but still upwards of 26,000 people.

Russia as a whole has seen an explosion of new infections since mid-June driven by the Delta variant.

READ ALSO: Migrant Workers Flee Capital As Bangladesh Tightens COVID-19 Lockdown

The dramatic rise in cases comes as officials in Moscow are pushing vaccine-sceptical Russians to get inoculated after lifting most anti-virus restrictions late last year.

“To stop the pandemic, one thing is needed: rapid, large-scale vaccinations. Nobody has invented any other solution,” Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin told state-run television on Saturday.

– ‘Up in smoke’ –

The Delta variant is also feeding fresh outbreaks in Southeast Asia and Australia where authorities have brought back or prolonged restrictions.

More than five million Sydney residents endured their first full day of a two-week lockdown Sunday to contain an outbreak of the strain.

Restaurants, bars and cafes were shuttered and stay-at-home orders were issued, leaving the city centre virtually deserted.

“Given how contagious this strain of the virus is, we do anticipate that in the next few days case numbers are likely to increase even beyond what we have seen today,” New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

More than 110 Covid-19 cases have been reported in Sydney since a driver for an international flight crew tested positive in mid-June for the Delta variant.

The flare-up has been a shock for a place that had returned to relative normality after months with few local cases.

Professional musician Blain Cunneen, 27, said his work — performing gigs, studio sessions and teaching students — had gone “up in smoke” overnight.

“All that was starting to operate again almost as normal… very suddenly overnight I got a bunch of emails and texts about everything being cancelled,” he told AFP.

Australia’s northern city of Darwin also entered a separate snap 48-hour lockdown on Sunday after a handful of cases were linked to a coronavirus outbreak on a remote gold mine.

“The Northern Territory is now facing its biggest threat since the Covid crisis began,” Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner said.

– Restrictions reimposed –

Similar spikes in infections have recently been seen across Southeast Asia.

Thailand will from Monday reimpose restrictions on restaurants, construction sites and gatherings in the capital Bangkok as it tries to contain a wave of infections.

The country’s latest wave kicked off in April when a cluster was found in upscale Bangkok clubs.

Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha has said he plans to fully reopen the country by October, but this would require hitting a target of vaccinating 50 million Thais in four months.

In neighbouring Malaysia, the prime minister announced that a nationwide lockdown in place for about a month already will continue, and he gave no date for the lifting of restrictions.

His government had previously said the strict curbs would be eased in stages, as long as there was a drop in infections, intensive care bed use and a rise in vaccination rates.

Bangladesh also said it would impose a new national lockdown from Monday, with offices shut for a week and only medical-related transport allowed.

AFP

‘No Doubt’ US Has Undercounted COVID-19 Deaths – Fauci

Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before the US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to examine COVID-19, "focusing on lessons learned to prepare for the next pandemic", on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 23, 2020. KEVIN DIETSCH / POOL / AFP
Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci. KEVIN DIETSCH / POOL / AFP

 

The United States, which has reported the world’s worst overall Covid-19 death toll, has “no doubt” been undercounting fatal cases, top pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci said Sunday.

The country has officially lost over 581,000 people to the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus — but a University of Washington study released Thursday estimated deaths at more than 900,000.

“That’s a bit more than I would have thought the undercounting was,” Fauci told NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

“But I think there’s no doubt… that we are and have been undercounting.”

The United States has reported over 32.6 million cases since the virus was first identified at the end of 2019 in China.

America was battered by a spike in cases and deaths after the end-of-year holidays, but since January new infections have come down as vaccination rates have jumped.

“We are turning the corner. We have 58 percent of adult Americans with at least one shot, over 110 million Americans fully vaccinated,” White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeffrey Zients told CNN’s State of the Union.

READ ALSO: COVID-19 Claims Two India Olympic Gold Medalists On Same Day

President Joe Biden wants 70 percent of adults in the US to have received at least one shot of the Covid-19 vaccine by the July 4 Independence Day holiday.

But the rate peaked around April 10 and has been declining since then, with vaccine hold-outs slowing the race to population immunity.

Federal, state and local officials are partnering with pharmacies, restaurants, breweries, supermarkets and sports teams to come up with incentives to get people to get their shots.

In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy launched a “Shot and a Beer” program to encourage vaccination, while in West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced that the state will offer $100 savings bonds to residents aged 16 to 35 who get inoculated.

AFP

COVID-19: Nigeria Records 45 More Infections, No Fresh Deaths

A health worker seen wearing a PPE amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Nigeria has recorded 45 new COVID-19 cases with no deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

In its latest update released on Friday night by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, this marks the eleventh consecutive day that nobody died from the disease in Africa’s most populous nation.

Channels Television observed that the new figure which is lower than the 100 recorded a day earlier, has raised the total number of infections in the country to 164,633.

The country’s death toll from the virus in Nigeria stands at 2,061.

The breakdown of the data shows that 65 persons were discharged after testing negative to the COVID-19 virus following treatment, thus bringing the total number of discharged persons to 154,643.

READ ALSO: US Experts Recommend Resumption of J&J Vaccine

According to the health agency, the 45 new cases were reported from eight states: Lagos-26, Rivers-10, Delta-3, Kano-2, Akwa Ibom-1, FCT-1, Kaduna-1 and Nasarawa-1.

Lagos had the highest figure with 26 new cases on Friday, followed by Rivers and Delta with 10 and three new cases respectively.

NCDC said since the pandemic broke out in Nigeria in February 2020, the country has carried out over 1.8 million tests, according to the NCDC.

Although 154,643 people have been discharged, the country still accounts for 9,990 active COVID-19 cases.

Global Update

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 3,088,103 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1000 GMT on Saturday.

At least 145,544,640 cases of coronavirus have been registered. The vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms weeks or even months later.

These figures are based on daily tolls provided by health authorities in each country and exclude later re-evaluations by statistical organisations, as has happened in Russia, Spain and Britain.

On Friday, 13,991 new deaths and 892,677 new cases were recorded worldwide.

Based on the latest reports, the countries with the newest deaths were Brazil with 2,914 new deaths, followed by India with 2,624 and United States with 962.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 571,199 deaths from 31,992,070 cases.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 386,416 deaths from 14,237,078 cases, Mexico with 214,504 deaths from 2,323,430 cases, India with 189,544 deaths from 16,610,481 cases, and the United Kingdom with 127,385 deaths from 4,401,109 cases.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Hungary with 271 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by the Czech Republic with 270, Bosnia-Herzegovina 250, Montenegro 232 and Bulgaria 226.

Europe overall has 1,045,965 deaths from 49,211,628 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean 888,392 deaths from 27,913,063 infections, and the United States and Canada 595,072 deaths from 33,153,693 cases.

Asia has reported 312,321 deaths from 23,216,145 cases, the Middle East 125,727 deaths from 7,519,260 cases, Africa 119,586 deaths from 4,488,252 cases, and Oceania 1,040 deaths from 42,605 cases.

Since the start of the pandemic, the number of tests conducted has greatly increased while testing and reporting techniques have improved, leading to a rise in reported cases. However, the number of diagnosed cases is only a part of the real total number of infections as a significant number of less serious or asymptomatic cases always remain undetected.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day’s tallies.

Europe First Region To Pass 500,000 COVID-19 Deaths

File photo: MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP.

 

Europe became the first region in the world on Thursday to pass the milestone of 500,000 coronavirus deaths, according to an AFP tally based on official sources shortly before 1500 GMT.

The 52 countries and territories of the European region counted at least 500,069 deaths — ahead of Latin America and the Caribbean on 477,404, the United States and Canada (321,287), Asia (208,149), the Middle East (85,895) and Africa (57,423).

Europe has once again become the epicentre of the pandemic since October — alongside the United States — after having already been the focus of global attention in March-April.

Almost 37,000 people have died in Europe over the past seven days, the highest weekly toll since the start of the pandemic.

On Tuesday, 6,800 deaths were recorded in 24 hours — the highest-ever figure.

Five countries account for more than half of the deaths in Europe: Italy (66,537 deaths), the United Kingdom (65,520), France (59,361), Russia (49,151) and Spain (48,596).

Belgium remains the country with the highest number of deaths in relation to its population, with 158 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Italy (110), Bosnia-Herzegovina (107), Slovenia and Northern Macedonia (105).

READ ALSO: US To Revise COVID-19 Vaccine Guidance After Allergic Reactions

The European countries with the most new deaths over the last seven days are Italy (4,798 deaths), Russia (3,846), Germany (3,495), the United Kingdom (2,954), Poland (2,754) and France (2,713).

– ‘High risk’ of resurgence –

Since the beginning of October, Europe has also been the region with the most new contaminations each day.

Last week, more than 243,000 new daily cases were recorded there on average — almost a third of all cases worldwide.

However, the spread seems now to be slowing: the average number of new daily cases is almost stable compared to the previous week.

The grim milestone in Europe comes a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a “high risk” of a resurgence in the region at the beginning of 2021.

Worldwide, at least 1.65 million people have died from Covid-19 and more than 74 million cases have been diagnosed, according to AFP’s count.

AFP

Enugu Govt Links Mysterious Deaths To Yellow Fever

A map of Enugu state in the south-east.
A map of Enugu state in the south-east.

 

The Enugu State Government has confirmed that Yellow Fever is the cause of deaths from a reported strange illness in Ette Uno and Umuopu communities of Enugu Ezike town in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state.

According to a statement issued on Saturday by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ikechukwu Obi, the disease was confirmed through verifiable diagnostic tests.

He explained that Yellow Fever is not a new disease but one of public health importance controlled with a set of routine and mass immunisation

For Obi, the Ministry of Health has called for an immediate Emergency Operations Centre with representatives from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and other implementing partners in the state, to articulate specific next steps to effectively respond to and control this disease in Igboeze North LGA, and prevent its spread in the state.

SEE FULL STATEMENT BELOW:

Yellow Fever cause of alleged unusual deaths in  Enugu Ezike – Enugu govt

The Enugu State Government has confirmed that Yellow Fever is the cause of deaths from a reported strange illness in Ette Uno and Umuopu communities of Enugu Ezike town in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state.

A statement by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Obi, stated that the disease was confirmed “through verifiable diagnostic tests”.

Dr. Obi explained that “Yellow Fever is not a new disease but one of public health importance internationally and in Nigeria” adding that “It is one of the diseases controlled for in the Nigerian set of routine and mass immunizable diseases.”

According to him “a suspected case is anyone with a sudden onset of fever who develops jaundice (yellowness of the eyes) within 14 days it is verifiable by diagnostic tests”.

The Health Commissioner therefore disclosed that “the Enugu State Ministry of Health has called for an immediate Emergency Operations Centre Meeting this morning at 10am, with representatives from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and other implementing partners in the state, to articulate specific next steps to effectively respond to and control this disease in Igboeze North LGA, and prevent its spread in Enugu State”.

His words: “We are collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Health and with nearby states to prevent its spread within Nigeria. The General Hospital, Enugu Ezike, and other hospitals in the state are prepared to provide the supportive treatment needed for Yellow Fever.

“It is transmitted by the aedes or haemogogus specie of mosquitoe, causes symptoms within 3 – 6 days of infection, which range from a mild febrile illness in some individuals to a more toxic illness that can, unfortunately, lead to death in others. Only 15 percent of infected persons enter this toxic phase.

“This is a time to continue in earnest the hygienic practices that we have become used to due to the COVID -19 pandemic, while now improving our environmental hygiene practices; keep our surroundings clean and free of overgrown bushes, ensuring that we do not allow containers and gutters around us to collect water for long periods which allows mosquitoes to breed. We should protect our homes by screening doors and windows with nets, and ourselves by sleeping under mosquito nets and wearing clothes that limit mosquito bites.

“Most of all, if you recognize the above symptoms in yourself or a loved one, please visit the nearest hospital”.

Enugu State is in the hands of God.

Iran COVID-19 Deaths Top 30,000

Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Set For Final Trial Stage After 'Promising' Results
In this file photo taken on May 18, 2020, a syringe is pictured on an illustration representation of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.  AFP

 

The death toll in Iran from the coronavirus pandemic has crossed the 30,000 mark, the health ministry announced Saturday.

“Unfortunately, we have lost 253 of our fellow citizens to Covid-19 over the past 24 hours,” ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told a daily briefing.

The latest deaths raised the overall toll to 30,123 for the eight months since Iran reported its first fatalities from the novel coronavirus.

Tehran and four other major cities have been largely sealed off since Wednesday and most public places in the capital, a city of some nine million people, closed since October 3.

Iran recorded 4,103 new cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total caseload so far to 526,490, the ministry spokeswoman added.

AFP

Partial COVID-19 Lockdown In Madrid As US Deaths Near 200,000

Commuters wearing face masks sit on a train at the Atocha Station in Madrid on April 13, 2020 as some companies were set to resume operations at the end of a two-weeks halt of all non-essential activity amid a national lockdown to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. JAVIER SORIANO / AFP.

 

A million people in and around the Spanish capital on Monday were under new “stay-at-home” orders to contain another coronavirus surge, as the US death toll neared 200,000.

But unlike other nations that are tightening curbs to battle outbreaks, India pressed ahead with its measures to kickstart its battered economy, reopening the Taj Mahal and some schools on Monday — despite having the second-highest caseload in the world.

The restrictions in Madrid will last for two weeks starting Monday, affecting people living mainly in densely populated, low-income neighbourhoods who will be allowed only to travel for essential reasons such as work, medical care or taking children to school.

On Sunday, people took to the streets in some of the affected districts in protest against the new measures.

They sported placards reading “No to a class-based lockdown” or “They’re destroying our district and now they’re locking us up”.

“We think that they are laughing at us a little bit,” said nurse Bethania Perez, as hundreds protested against the measure.

“We will still be able to go to work, and go into other areas that are not under lockdown, where we might be able to raise the infections and also still be vulnerable to infections in our own area.”

Authorities in Spain — among the worst-hit nations in the world — have insisted the step is necessary because virus cases in those districts were much higher than the national average.

Global coronavirus infections are rapidly approaching 31 million, with more than 958,000 deaths.

– ‘We have to get used to it’ –

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern moved most of New Zealand to its lowest virus alert setting on Monday, saying the country was edging towards eliminating Covid-19.

The Pacific nation has recorded just 25 deaths in a population of five million and has been widely praised for its virus response.

In India, however, infections are surging with tens of thousands of new infections being reported every day.

But with the economy reeling, the government has gradually eased what was once among the world’s strictest lockdowns — despite warnings from some experts about the virus spreading across the vast nation of 1.3 billion people.

“So many people lost their job during the lockdown. People have suffered a lot and it is time the country opens up fully,” said bank official Ayub Sheikh, 35, who was visiting the Taj Mahal with his wife and baby daughter.

“We are not afraid of the virus. If it has to infect us, it will… I don’t think it is going to go away soon. We have to get used to it now.”

In poorer, crisis-hit parts of the world, the pandemic has piled on even more suffering.

In Iraq tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims participated in the annual mourning ceremonies of Ashura despite the government urging citizens to not attend large gatherings.

“Iraq has been through so much misery — from war to torture to imprisonment to forced emigration and now the coronavirus pandemic,” said Sheikh Hassan Dhakeri, a cleric in the shrine city of Karbala.

– ‘The pand-Emmys’ –

The United States remains the hardest-hit nation in the world, with more than 6.8 million cases and deaths approaching 200,000.

The pandemic has unleashed vast destruction on the world’s biggest economy, with millions left jobless, and President Donald Trump facing intense criticism of his handling of the virus.

Trump has expressed confidence that a vaccine would be ready by October — a claim contradicted by his administration’s top health expert.

In the absence of a prophylactic, all public gatherings carry a serious transmission risk.

That worry impacted the biggest TV awards show in America on Sunday, as the Emmys ceremony was held in a mostly empty venue in Los Angeles — with host Jimmy Kimmel dubbing them “the pand-Emmys”.

The theatre was filled with cardboard cutouts of A-list celebrities, and around 130 nominees joined via video link. The awards were handed to the winners by presenters dressed in hazmat suits styled as tuxedos.

Kimmel signed off saying: “To all the winners tonight and all the nominees, I’ll see you guys at the sad Zoom after-party.”

AFP

COVID-19 Death Toll Exceeds 600,000 Globally

Relatives observe undertakers unloading a casket containing the remains of a COVID-19 coronavirus patient during a funeral at the Avalon cemetery in Soweto, on July 24, 2020. AFP

 

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 645,715 people since emerging in China late last year, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Sunday.

At least 16,072,290 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 9,061,300 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.

On Saturday, 6,003 new deaths and 260,578 new cases were recorded worldwide. The countries with the newest deaths were Brazil with 1,211, followed by the United States with 1,067 and Mexico with 729.

The US is the worst-hit country with 146,463 deaths from 4,178,730 cases. At least 1,279,414 people have been declared recovered.

The next hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 86,449 deaths from 2,394,513 cases, the United Kingdom with 45,738 deaths from 298,681 cases, Mexico with 43,374 deaths from 385,036 cases and Italy with 35,102 deaths from 245,864 cases.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Belgium with 85 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by the United Kingdom with 67, Spain 61, Italy 58, and Sweden 56.

China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — has to date declared 83,830 cases (46 new since Saturday), including 4,634 deaths and 78,908 recoveries.

FILES) In this file photo taken on May 21, 2020 Worker move a coffin with the body of a COVID-19 victim out of a refrigerated container before its cremation at the El Angel crematorium, in Lima.

Europe overall has 207,869 deaths from 3,061,857 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean 182,511 deaths from 4,329,332 infections, while the United States and Canada have reported 155,381 deaths from 4,292,245 cases.

Asia has recorded 57,019 deaths from 2,456,523 cases, the Middle East 25,238 deaths from 1,087,157 cases, Africa 17,513 deaths from 829,127 cases, and Oceania 184 deaths from 16,057 cases.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day’s tallies.

AFP

Iran’s COVID-19 Deaths Cross 12,000

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency on July 8, 2020 shows President Hassan Rouhani (2nd-R) attending a cabinet session with ministers clad in face masks, measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in the capital Tehran. Iranian Presidency / AFP

 

Iran said on Wednesday that its deaths from the novel coronavirus had surpassed 12,000, with authorities considering reimposing restrictive measures in Tehran to contain a resurgence of the disease.

It came a day after the Islamic republic reported its highest single-day fatality count of 200 from the COVID-19 illness.

Iran has been battling the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak of the virus since late February.

Health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said that another 153 deaths had been recorded over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 12,084.

She said total cases had risen to 248,379 with 2,691 more people testing positive.

READ ALSO: Buhari Replaces Two Non-Career Ambassadors-Designate

Nine of Iran’s 31 provinces are now classified as “red”, the highest category in the country’s virus risk scaling.

Another 10 are on alert including the capital Tehran and the surrounding province, Lari added.

“Tehran is facing a very fragile situation,” said Alireza Zali, the head of the city’s virus taskforce.

“The number of infections, deaths and hospitalisations have been on a sharp rising trajectory in the past 10 days,” he was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

Iran closed schools, cancelled public events and banned movement between its 31 provinces in March, but the government progressively lifted restrictions from April to try to reopen its sanctions-hit economy.

Zali said that Tehran needs “more restrictive measures” to contain the virus and will discuss their reimposition in an emergency meeting with the health minister.

His deputy, Ali Maher, told ISNA that measures may be reintroduced as soon as Saturday.

Some red provinces have already reimposed restrictions in recent weeks after receiving a green light from the government.

AFP

COVID-19 Deaths Exceed 400,000 Globally

Members of a Muslim burial organisation prepare the body of a man who died of COVID-19 coronavirus for burial, at the Ghietmatiel Islamia Mosque in Athlone, Cape Town, on June 9, 2020. 
RODGER BOSCH / AFP

 

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 407,914 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1900 GMT on Tuesday.

At least 7,169,550 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 3,148,200 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only symptomatic cases or the most serious ones.

Since 1900 GMT Sunday, 3,653 new deaths and 102,424 new cases were recorded worldwide.

The countries with the most new deaths were Brazil with 679, the United States with 604, and Mexico with 354.

The United States is the worst-hit country overall with 111,375 deaths from 1,968,221 cases. At least 518,522 people have been declared recovered.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Britain with 40,883 deaths from 289,140 cases, Brazil with 37,134 deaths from 707,412 infections, Italy with 34,043 deaths from 235,561 cases, and France with 29,296 deaths from 191,394 cases.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Belgium with 83 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Britain with 60, Spain 58, Italy 56 and Sweden 47.

China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — has to date declared 4,634 deaths and 83,043 infections with 78,351 recoveries.

Europe overall has 184,807 deaths from 2,308,977 cases, the United States and Canada have 119,316 deaths from 2,064,835 infections, Latin America and the Caribbean 67,191 deaths from 1,365,832 cases, Asia 20,167 deaths from 719,876 cases, the Middle East 10,790 deaths from 499,044 cases, Africa 5,512 deaths from 202,345 cases, and Oceania 131 deaths from 8,648 cases.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day’s tallies.

AFP

Nasarawa Records Four COVID-19 Deaths

 

The death toll of COVID-19 in Nasarawa State has risen to four.

Governor Abdullahi Sule disclosed this on Thursday during the maiden State COVID-19 Stakeholders Review Meeting.

After the meeting, the ban on motorcycles was lifted, markets opened and religious centres to maintain status quo but are advised to adhere strictly to safety protocols.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Jigawa Discharges 1,322 Almajirai From Isolation