One person dying of COVID-19 every 15 seconds: Tally

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 05 August 2020 7:54 AM

The number of people who have died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has now surpassed 704,000 around the world, with one person dying every 15 seconds on average, according to a Reuters tally.

The new coronavirus, which first emerged in China in December last year, has so far infected 18,708,685 people and killed more than 704,438 others.

Reuters calculations based on data from the past two weeks show that nearly 5,900 people are dying every 24 hours from the viral disease on average, which equates to 247 people per hour, or one person every 15 seconds.

The United States, Brazil, India, and Mexico lead other countries in terms of fatality rate, according to the tally.

The United States and Latin America are the epicenters of the pandemic and both are struggling to curb the spread of the virus.

Even in parts of the world that had appeared to have curbed the spread of the virus, countries have recently seen single-day records in new cases, signaling the battle is far from over.

The following is the latest on the pandemic from some countries around the globe:

Latin America now has world's highest death toll

Latin America has become the region with the highest coronavirus death toll worldwide.

The region has now recorded more than 206,000 deaths, approximately 30 percent of the global total.

Brazil – the second-worst-hit country by the pandemic, after the United States – has recorded a total of 95,819 deaths as of Tuesday.

Mexico, the second-most-affected country in the region, has 48,869 deaths.

The spread of the pandemic has also accelerated in Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia.

On Monday, Latin America's infections surpassed 5 million, according to a Reuters tally based on government data. The number of cases increased after authorities relaxed lockdown measures in order to stimulate economic growth.

Australia's Queensland shuts state border

The Australian state of Queensland has closed its border with the state of New South Wales (NSW) in an attempt to hold back a second wave of COVID-19 infections.

A surge in coronavirus cases in Australia's second most populous city, Melbourne, has forced the state of Victoria to impose a curfew from, as part of the country's harshest movement restrictions to date to contain a resurgent COVID-19 outbreak.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has already shut her northeastern state's border to Victorians, said travelers from NSW and the capital, Canberra, would also be barred from Saturday.

"We have seen that Victoria is not getting better, and we're not going to wait for New South Wales to get worse. We need to act," Palaszczuk said at a news conference in Brisbane.

Ukraine reports record daily tally

Ukraine has reported a record daily high of 1,271 new coronavirus cases, the country's council of security and defense said on Wednesday.

The number of new infections has increased sharply in the past two months following the gradual lifting of restrictions that began in late May.

Czech Republic records biggest daily jump since end of June

The Czech Republic has reported its biggest daily jump in new coronavirus cases since the end of June, as a recent uptick in infections stays elevated.

The central European country of 10.7 million recorded 290 new cases on Tuesday, Health Ministry data showed, bringing the total number of cases detected to 17,286.

Of those, 11,812 have recovered and 383 have died of the COVID-19 illness.