The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has claimed at least 342,295 lives worldwide since it broke out in December 2019 in China, according to a death toll worked out by the French news agency, AFP, based on official sources, at 1:00 PM on Sunday.
Over 5,327,680 cases of infection have been diagnosed officially in 196 countries and territories since the start of the pandemic, a figure that reflects only a fraction of the real number of infections. Of these, at least 2,066,300 persons are viewed as having recovered.
The United States, which reported its first COVID-19 case in early February, is the country with the highest number of infections and deaths. So far it has registered 97,087 fatalities for 1,622,670 infections.
After the USA, the worst affected countries are the United Kingdom, with 36,675 deaths and 257,154 cases of infection; Italy, 32,375 deaths (229,327 cases); Spain, 28,678 deaths (235,290 cases) and France, 28,332 deaths (182,469 cases).
China (excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macao) has officially declared 82,974 cases, including three new ones between Saturday and Sunday, and 4,634 deaths.
Europe had 173,551 deaths for 2,014,969 cases by Sunday; Latin America and the Caribbean had 39,103 deaths (715,568 cases); Asia, 13,962 deaths (439,229 cases); the Middle East, 8,762 deaths (335,953 cases), Africa 3,253 deaths (107,205 cases) and Oceania, 130 deaths (8,466 cases).
The Brussels Times
