New Delhi/New York, April 2: The global number of confirmed cases of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, breached the 1-million mark on Thursday, with over 50,000 deaths in at least 180 countries. Of this, 738,623 people are presently suffering from COVID-19 disease. Over 2 lakh people have been treated successfully around the world. The United States became the first nation with more than 200,000 COVID-19 infections on Wednesday. Coronavirus Outbreak in US: FEMA Seeks 100,000 Body Bags For Mortuary Affairs as Death Toll Continues to Rise.
The United States has the most coronavirus cases in the world, which have exceeded 250,000, while Italy accounted for the largest death toll at 13,915. Spain became the third country with the highest number of cases at 110,238, after the US and Italy. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is an "exponential growth" in the number of COVID-19 cases, which is a bad sign as the number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week.
In India, the number of coronavirus cases in India has reached to 2069 following an increase of 235 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Thursday evening. Of this, 1860 people are presently suffering from COVID-19 disease. The death toll has also risen to 53, according to data furnished by the ministry till 6 pm. At least 150 patients have recovered and discharged from the hospitals, while one person migrated.
Meanwhile, UN agencies continued to help countries contain the virus and limit its social-economic impact. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it has provided $78.8 million in responses to the pandemic. It includes $75 million from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), with the rest coming from country-based, pooled funds.
Programs in 15 countries have been supported through these funds and additional countries were being identified under the global CERF allocation of $60 million -- one of the largest ever made. So far, according to the OCHA, close to $374 million in donor funds have been made available for the global plan.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 02, 2020 11:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).