Confirmed cases worldwide exceed 1.1mil
Published on: Sunday, April 05, 2020
WASHINGTON: The number of confirmed virus cases worldwide has risen above 1.1 million, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University on Saturday.A total of 1,118,921 people have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus across the world, with a death toll of 58,937, while more than 226,000 patients have recovered, showed the tally, updated by the university’s Centre for Systems Science and Engineering.
ADVERTISEMENT
Vietnam’s Ministry of Health confirmed two new cases of the virus infection on Saturday morning, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 239.
One of the new cases, both Vietnamese, is a female who recently returned from Thailand and was connected with an earlier confirmed case, and the other is a male who had been to the Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital for treatment, which is in connection with a number of confirmed infections, Vietnam News Agency reported.
Afghanistan on Saturday reported 25 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 299, spokesman of the country’s Ministry of Public Health said.
A total of 153 suspected cases had been tested in laboratories in the capital city Kabul and western Herat province on Friday, spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said in a statement.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Afghan Ministry of Public Health on Saturday also registered one new death from Covid-19, bringing the total number of fatalities to seven since the outbreak of the pandemic in mid February.
“A 73-year-old patient died of complication caused by Covid-19 in Kabul on Friday. The death toll from the infectious disease is seven now,” Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman of the ministry, told reporters
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the data updated by the Health Ministry of Pakistan late Friday night, the total number of confirmed cases of has risen to 2,547 in the country, with 37 deaths reported.
According to the data, the most populated eastern Punjab province is the worst-hit area with 977 cases, followed by 783 cases in southern Sindh province.
South Africa on Friday announced two more coronavirus deaths and 43 new confirmed cases, bringing to tally in Africa’s worst-affected country up to 1,505 infections and seven deaths.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, who released the latest figures, said the figure was likely to be underestimated due to testing limits.
“I want to raise the point that this number is affected by... the limitations of the active testing that we are doing,” said Mkhize during a press conference in Cape Town.
“When we extend the testing... we actually expect these numbers to increase.”
South Africa launched mass door-to-door screening and testing for coronavirus this week, with 10,000 field workers deployed across the country of 57 million people.
The testing exercise will prioritise impoverished areas and overcrowded townships, where citizens are struggling to adhere to a 21-day lockdown imposed to halt the spread of infections.
Mkhize said it was too early to tell whether the nation-wide shutdown, which came into force last Friday, was having its desired effect.
“We need a lot more data that are going to show us the various trends of what is going on,” he added.
To date coronavirus has infected more than 7,000 people in Africa and killed close to 300.
South Africa’s latest victims were an 80-year-old man and an 81-year-old woman from the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.
Fiji reported on Saturday five more confirmed cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number to 12.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
