(Eagle News) – The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide have reached more than 720,000 with recoveries reported at more than 150,000, according to the latest data from the virus dashboard of Johns Hopkins University tracking global cases of COVID-19.
The cases have reached 721,817 as of 9:30 a.m. Monday, March 30, (Philippine time) with 33,968 total deaths and 151,204 total recoveries.
-US still leading countries with most COVID-19 cases-
US is still the country with the most number of cases at 142,328 with 2,489 coronavirus fatalities and 4,767 total recoveries. It is followed by Italy with 97,689 cases and 10,779 deaths and 13,030 recoveries.
China is third with 82,133 cases, largely previous cases already reported, with 3,304 deaths, and an alarming number of recoveries at 75,583.
Fourth is Spain with 80,110 cases, 6803 deaths and 14,709 recoveries.
Fifth is Germany with 62,095 cases, 541 deaths and 9,211 recoveries.
Sixth is France with 40,723 cases where 2,611 of patients died, while 7,226 recovered.
Seventh with the most number of cases is Iran with 38,309 cases, with 2,640 deaths and 12,391 recoveries.
Eighth is the United Kingdom with 19,784 cases, 1231 of whom died and only 151 recoveries so far.
Next is Switzerland with 14,829 cases, with 300 deaths and 1,595 recoveries; followed by the Netherlands with 10,930 cases, 772 deaths and 253 recoveries; and Belgium with 10,836 cases, 431 deaths and 1359 recoveries.
Other countries also had rising coronavirus cases as the virus continued to infect more people. Stringent quarantine measures and lockdowns have been put in place in various regions across the globe to stem the spread of the virus while scientists and medical experts are trying to find a vaccine for COVID-19, and a cure for the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also called on all countries implementing lockdowns to aggressively isolate and treat coronavirus cases, while also aggressively doing contact tracing.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, said that it was also important to strengthen and capacitate the health workers, giving them the needed personal protective equipment that they need.
“One of the most important areas of international cooperation is research and development. A vaccine is still at least 12 to 18 months away,” he said in an earlier statement.
“In the meantime, we recognize that there is an urgent need for therapeutics to treat patients and save lives,” Dr. Tedros said.
He also called on individuals and countries “to refrain from using therapeutics that have not been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of COVID-19.”
“The history of medicine is strewn with examples of drugs that worked on paper, or in a test tube, but didn’t work in humans or were actually harmful,” the WHO chief said.
(Eagle News Service)