Coronavirus Global Updates: US COVID-19 Deaths Top 120,000

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. Here are the latest updates on the COVID-19 crisis from around the globe on Tuesday.

Global COVID-19 cases cross 9 mn: Johns Hopkins University

The overall number of global COVID-19 cases has crossed the 9 million mark, while the deaths have surged to more than 471,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

By Tuesday morning, the total number of cases stood at 9,073,386, while the fatalities increased to 471,591, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

With 2,310,786 cases and 120,393 deaths, the US continues with the world's highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities, according to the CSSE.

Brazil comes in the second place with 1,106,470 infections and 51,271 deaths.

In terms of cases, Russia ranks third (591,465), and was followed by India (425,282), the UK (306,761), Peru (257,447), Chile (246,963), Spain (246,504), Italy (238,720), Iran (207,525), France (197,381), Germany (191,768), Turkey (188,897), Mexico (185,122), Pakistan (181,088), Saudi Arabia (161,005), Bangladesh (115,786), Canada (103,418) and South Africa (101,590), the CSSE figures showed.

The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are the UK (42,731), Italy (34,657), France (29,666), Spain (28,324), Mexico (22,584) and India (13,699).

US COVID-19 deaths top 120,000

The number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States topped 120,000, reaching 120,036 as of 12:04 p.m. (1604 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 2,286,457 cases have been reported in the country, according to the CSSE on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

New York state, which reported 388,488 cases, has seen a total of 31,125 deaths. Other states with over 5,000 COVID-19 deaths include New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and California, the CSSE data showed.

New York City, once the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, entered phase two of reopening on Monday, during which hair salons, real estate sales, vehicle sales and rentals, some in-store retails are allowed to reopen. Restaurants can serve customers in the outdoor space, according to New York state's phased reopening strategy.

WHO urges balance between protection against COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) urged a delicate balance between protection against COVID-19 and minimizing social, economic damage therewith, as global daily new cases keeps hitting new record.

"It's not a choice between lives and livelihoods. Countries can do both," claimed WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as all countries are facing a "delicate balance between protecting their people, while minimizing the social and economic damage", Xinhua news agency reported.

The latest numbers from WHO show that more than 183,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Sunday, which was easily the most in a single day so far. Worldwide, more than 8.8 million cases have now been reported to WHO, and more than 465,000 people have lost their lives.

According to the WHO chief, some countries are continuing to see a rapid increase in cases and deaths, while some others that have successfully suppressed transmission are now seeing an upswing in cases as they reopen their societies and economies.

He urged countries to be careful and creative in finding solutions that enable people to stay safe while getting on with their lives, and to double down on the fundamental public health measures that have been known to work, including finding and testing suspected cases, isolating and caring for the sick, tracing and quarantining contacts, and protecting health workers.

He also urged every individual to take measures to protect themselves and others, such as maintain physical distance, cleaning hands and wearing a mask where appropriate.

The WHO chief also talked about the potential of steroid dexamethasone in treatment of COVID-19, saying "although the data are still preliminary, the recent finding that the steroid dexamethasone has life-saving potential for critically ill COVID-19 patients gave us a much-needed reason to celebrate."

But he reiterated that it should only be used for patients with severe or critical disease and under close clinical supervision.

According to WHO, as of 3:50 p.m. CEST (1750 GMT), the COVID-19 pandemic had infected 8,860,331 people worldwide, causing a death toll of 465,740.

15 more deaths take UK's COVID-19 death toll to 42,647

Another 15 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 42,647, the British Department of Health and Social Care said.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

As of Monday morning, 305,289 people have tested positive for the disease in Britain, a daily increase of 958, according to the department, Xinhua news agency reported.

As of Monday morning, there have been 8,029,757 tests of the novel coronavirus in the country, with 139,659 tests on Sunday, said the department.

Earlier Monday, a spokesperson said 10 Downing Street has concluded review of the 2-meter rule, which would be presented to a meeting of the C-19 committee of senior ministers chaired by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this afternoon.

The C-19 group will consider the recommendations of the review and the next steps in the coronavirus recovery roadmap. Johnson will make a statement to MPs on the plans Tuesday, said the spokesperson.

Turkey imposes fines for not wearing face masks

Turkey started to impose fines of up to 900 liras (US $131) on those who don't wear face masks in public places as part of the measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The measure came after a slight increase in new cases, covering outdoor spaces as well as shops and restaurants in 81 provinces of Turkey, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

Turkey confirmed 1,212 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number in the country to 188,897, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced Monday.

Meanwhile, 24 more died from the virus, taking the death toll to 4,974, while 1,293 patients recovered in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of recoveries to 161,533, the minister tweeted.

Koca also said 41,413 tests were conducted over the day, increasing the overall number of tests to 2,986,653.

Turkey is currently treating 846 patients in intensive care units, with 345 being intubated, he added.

Turkey reported the first COVID-19 case in the country on March 11 and has stepped up the normalization process since June 1.

(With Agency Inputs)

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