Global Coronavirus Death Count Crosses 70,000

Paris: The worldwide number of fatalities from the novel coronavirus rose to 70,009 on Monday, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources.

More than 1,277,580 declared cases have been registered in 191 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December. Of these cases, at least 243,300 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP offices from national authorities and information from the World Health Organisation (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are only testing the most serious cases.

Italy, which recorded its first coronavirus death at the end of February, has 15,877 fatalities, with 128,948 infections and 21,815 people recovered.

Spain recorded 13,055 fatalities and 135,032 infections, followed by the United States with 9,648 deaths and 337,646 cases - the highest in the world.

France has reported 8,078 deaths and 92,839 infections, followed by Britain with 4,934 deaths and 47,806 cases.

China - excluding Hong Kong and Macau - has to date declared 3,331 deaths and 81,708 cases, with 77,078 recoveries.

Europe has listed 676,462 cases and 50,215 deaths to date, the US and Canada together have 353,159 cases with 9,955 deaths, Asia 119,955 cases and 4.239 deaths, the Middle East 78,563 cases and 3,933 deaths, Latin America and the Caribbean 33,362 cases with 1,178 deaths, Africa 9,263 cases with 444 deaths and Oceania 6,821 cases with 45 deaths.