New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The global death toll due to coronavirus reached 10,000 on Friday, reported news agency AFP while adding that the virus has affected more than 2,50,000 in the world.
According to the AFP report, 4,932 people have died in Europe while 3,431 fatalities have been recorded in Asia. Italy is the worst affected country with 3,405 fatalities, followed by China with 3,248, the initial epicentre of the outbreak, and Iran with 1,433.
Here are ten things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic in the world:
• Italy has been the worst-affected country in the world with 3,405 fatalities. The number of new COVID-19 cases is yet to plateau despite the Italian government's best efforts.
• As the situation worsened in Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte asked people to use their common sense and act with utmost cautious. “We are not underestimating anything and always acting based on the worst-case scenario,” he said.
• Meanwhile, the situation has vastly improved in China as no new domestic coronavirus cases were confirmed in China for the second consecutive day on Friday.
• According to the Chinese National Health Commission (NHC), it received reports of 39 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland on Thursday, all of which were imported taking the total of confirmed cases of people coming from abroad to 228.
• It said that 104 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus, while 8,989 close contacts were still under medical observation.
• Meanwhile, there has been a considerable spike in coronavirus cases in the US with the number of fatalities surging past 200 and the total confirmed infections crossing 14,000, making it the sixth top COVID-19 infected country.
• Amid the alarming situation, several US States and local governments have issued lockdown orders. In wake of the deadly virus, President Trump has scrapped this year's in-person G7 summit and he will now instead hold the high-profile event through video-conference.
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• Trump, who has come under fire for his response to the crisis, said Thursday that the world was paying for China's lack of transparency about the outbreak. "It could have been contained to that one area of China where it started. And certainly the world is paying a big price for what they did," he said.
• In Iran, 149 more fatalities were reported on Friday, bringing its death toll to 1,433 amid nearly 20,000 confirmed cases. Amid this, President Hassan Rouhani has defended his government's response to the coronavirus outbreak in the face of widespread criticism that officials acted too slowly and may have even covered up initial cases before infections rapidly spread across the country.
• As the situation is becoming more and more alarming, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of the virus's potentially devastating effects. "If we let the virus spread like wildfire -- especially in the most vulnerable regions of the world -- it would kill millions of people," Guterres said.
(With agency inputs)