Latest on Pandemic: Deaths Pass 316K, New Hotspots Emerging in Africa

There have now been some 4,804,000 confirmed cases of infection with the new coronavirus globally, and 316,703 people have lost their lives, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Some 1,858,754 people have also recovered from the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Some epicenters of the outbreak, including the United States, Italy, and Spain, have gradually begun to emerge from lockdowns that have kept millions of people indoors for months.

As the Northern Hemisphere heads into summer and a heatwave hits southern Europe, people are venturing out again, even as social-distancing rules are in place and many also wear masks.

Meanwhile, hotspots have alarmingly begun to emerge across Africa, which has so far seen a relatively slow spread of the virus.

Here are the latest on the coronavirus pandemic around the globe:

Germany reports no additional deaths

German health officials registered two new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s tally to 174,355, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.

With no additional deaths, the overall fatality figure in Germany remained at 7,914.

Italy’s daily death toll, new cases fall

In Italy, the daily death toll fell to 145 on Sunday, the lowest since early March, against the 153 registered the day before, according to Italy’s Civil Protection Agency.

The new cases took the overall tally in Italy to 225,435.

Italy, with the world’s third highest number of fatalities after the United States and Britain, has reported a total death toll of 31,908.

France reports 483 new deaths

France reported 483 more deaths on Sunday, taking the total to 28,108.

The new fatality figure compared with 96 on Saturday, and was the highest since April 23.

A French Health Ministry spokeswoman, however, said there was “not a sudden rise in deaths,” as the figure took into account “additional data” provided by local health agencies.

The latest figure included 429 deaths in retirement homes.

The number of confirmed cases in France rose to 142,481 on Sunday from 142,291 on Saturday.

The Health Ministry said both the numbers of deaths and new cases had been on a downtrend for four to five weeks.

Source: Press TV