Corona cases in US near 700,000

ISLAMABAD: The confirmed coronavirus death toll in the United States reached 36,576 on Friday, according to latest international media reports, while the number of infected persons stands near to 700,000 and the world tally of infections is over 2.2 million out of whom over 153,252 have died.

The latest toll till publication of this report was marked an increase of 7,800 deaths in the past 24 hours, by far the highest daily toll in the pandemic so far. But the figure likely includes "probable" deaths related to COVID-19, which were not previously included as China has revised its death toll.

This week, New York City announced it would add 3,778 "probable" coronavirus deaths to its toll. As of Thursday night, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had recorded 31,071 coronavirus deaths, including 4,141 "probable" virus deaths, foreign media reported.

The US has the highest death toll in the world, followed by Italy with 22,745 dead although its population is just a fifth of that of the US. Spain has recorded 19,613 deaths, followed by France with 18,681.

New York, the epicentre of the country´s COVID-19 epidemic, has suffered more than 12,000 deaths across the state alone.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump unveiled plans to reopen the US economy, allowing each state´s governor "to take a phased deliberate approach to reopening their individual states."

The number of people in Britain who have died in hospital from coronavirus has risen by 847 to 14,576, according to daily health ministry figures on Friday. The increase over a period of 24 hours is slightly lower than the 861 new deaths recorded the previous day.

The latest data also showed a further 5,599 people had tested positive for COVID-19 over 24 hours, taking the total number of infections in the country to nearly 109,000.

Iran said on Friday 89 more people have died from the novel coronavirus, as the country´s official fatalities remained in double figures for a fourth day.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a news conference that the latest deaths brought the overall toll to 4,958. It was the sixth day that the official fatality rate has dropped in the Middle East´s worst-hit country.

Russia said Friday it had recorded 32,008 coronavirus cases, including a record 4,070 in the last 24 hours, as President Vladimir Putin warned of "very high" risks, particularly in the ill-equipped provinces.

Official figures showed more than half of the new cases were registered in Moscow and the surrounding region. So far 273 deaths have been recorded in Russia, including 41 in the last 24 hours.

Speaking during a televised video-conference with regional governors, Putin said that "the risks surrounding the epidemic´s spread are still very high, not just in Moscow but in many other Russian regions."

Spain´s death toll spiralled towards 19,500 on Friday as the government revised its data collection methodology despite controversy over a system that counts only deaths among those who tested positive.

The country reported 585 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, but it was difficult to compare with previous tolls after the government amended its counting mechanism. The Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged raised its death toll by 50 percent to a total of 3,869.

The revision came as a growing chorus of world leaders suggested China had not been entirely open about the full domestic impact of the virus. The additional deaths in Wuhan were cases that were "mistakenly reported" or missed entirely, according to the official announcement.

That also pushed the nationwide death toll up sharply to 4,632, based on official data. Meanwhile, China´s economy shrank for the first time in decades during the last quarter.

"We are now facing rising pressure in the prevention of imported epidemic infections, as well as new difficulties and challenges for resuming work and production," National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Mao Shengyong told a press conference.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to order the military and police to take control of the country´s capital if people do not start obeying a virus lockdown. "The military and police will enforce social distancing at curfew... It´s like martial law. You choose," he said.

The Philippines has detected about 5,660 coronavirus cases and recorded 362 deaths, but those figures are expected to climb as the nation ramps up testing.