The global number of novel coronavirus cases — which have killed more than 3,000 people so far — crossed 100,000 on Friday.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, 100,276 people have been affected by the virus which originated from China’s Hubei province. Meanwhile, 3,404 people have died while another 55,694 have recovered.
According to AFP, at least 89 countries apart from China have been affected by the disease, especially South Korea with 6,284 cases and 42 deaths, followed by Iran with 4,747 cases and 124 deaths, and France with 423 cases and seven deaths.
However, while there has been an increase in the number of global cases, China’s central province of Hubei, excluding the provincial capital Wuhan, reported zero new cases of coronavirus over 24 hours for the first time, Reuters reported.
The fear of the virus spreading has lead governments around the world to close schools, affecting almost 300 million students globally. As of Thursday, 13 countries had closed schools while nine others had implemented localised closures.
Here are the latest developments;
- Slovakia, Cameroon and the Vatican have confirmed their first cases of coronavirus.
- Iran has reported 17 new coronavirus deaths, 124 in total. Meanwhile, the adviser to Iran’s foreign minister has died of coronavirus.
- Indonesia has confirmed 2 more cases
- Total number of cases in India have risen to 31
- US virus death toll has risen to 12
‘This is not a drill’, warns WHO
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned governments that the global spread of the new coronavirus is “not a drill” and requires significant action by public health authorities to contain the outbreak, CNN reported on Friday.
Although public health authorities across the globe have the ability to successfully combat the spread of the virus, WHO is concerned that in some countries the level of political commitment does not match the threat, the report quoted him as saying.
