Coronavirus now the leading cause of death globally

Coronavirus has taken over as the biggest cause of deaths around the world five months into the current year, leaving behind the age-old disease, malaria, which had the top position back on January 1, 2020.

According to official statistics obtained from John Hopkins COVID repository, Global Burden of Disease study, and Worldometers populations, 7% of annual deaths were listed down.

Apart from coronavirus, there were several other reasons for deaths listed such as malaria, malnutrition, homicide, Parkinson’s disease, drowning meningitis, alcohol, influenza, maternal mortality, drugs, and conflict, among others.

On May 24, the study showed that coronavirus led the graph of deaths by 345,059, leaving behind malaria at 256,795.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned in April that disruptions to malaria prevention and treatment caused by the coronavirus could see malaria deaths double this year.

The increase alone — estimated at the worst case to be 369,000 — would almost equal the current confirmed death toll of coronavirus, said the report.

Global efforts to eradicate malaria have made enormous progress in the last two decades.

"Although the disease still kills 400,000 people each year, over twice as many people died from malaria in 2000 as 2018. Before the coronavirus pandemic, experts saw 2020 as a critical year in sustaining progress against malaria, particularly because the decrease in morbidity and mortality has slowed in recent years.

"But the COVID-19 pandemic has now raised fears of a return to death tolls unseen for decades," it read.

According to an AFP tally, the global death toll due to the virus as of 4pm is 472,173, whereas the number of cases crossed nine million.