Global deaths and infections from the coronavirus have surpassed those inside China for the first time since the beginning of the outbreak.
Worldwide infections have grown to more than 87,000, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker, while cases inside China, stood at 80,860 as of Monday, according to the Chinese National Health Commission.
Deaths outside China have risen to more than 3,241, according to Johns Hopkins, while deaths inside China stand at 3,208 as of Monday (excluding four in Hong Kong and one in Taiwan).
A graph produced by Johns Hopkins university illustrated the dramatic rise of cases outside China. The angle of the yellow global curve appears to show that cases outside of China have grown even more rapidly than they did inside China at the start of the infection there.
The most substantial infection centre outside China is in Italy, where there are nearly 25,000 confirmed infections and more than 1,800 deaths.
Elsewhere in Europe, which the World Health Organization described as being at the centre of the pandemic, France has 4,500 cases and 91 deaths, Germany has 11 deaths and more than 5,700 infections, the Netherlands has 20 deaths and 2,270 infections, Switzerland has 14 deaths and 2,200 infections, and the UK has 21 deaths and 1,144.
The next worst affected country is Iran, where there are just under 14,000 confirmed cases and 724 deaths. There are fears that the country’s fragile health services and economy are struggling to cope with the outbreak, and on Friday, satellite imaging appeared to show mass graves dug in the city of Qom to bury coronavirus victims.
As the US rapidly escalated its response to the virus over the weekend, with Donald Trump declaring a national emergency, cases have jumped to 3,500, with at least 57 deaths recorded. There’s been substantial criticism of the Trump administration, and the president himself, who only two weeks ago when the country had 15 infections, suggested the number would be down to zero before long.
Trump also accused Democrats of using the coronavirus as “their new hoax”, promised a vaccine much sooner than scientifically possible.
The Centers for Disease Control in the US advised against gatherings of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks.
While many countries have been late to respond to the threat, South Korea, which has a more than 8,000 confirmed infections has quickly controlled the spread of the virus, through rapid testing and quarantine measures in the worst affected areas. Over the weekend it recorded its first two days in a row where recoveries outstripped new infections.
– The Guardian
