This week has seen the most drastic changes in the number of coronavirus cases globally. The number of recorded cases has already surpassed half a million and more than a third of the world is under some form of restrictions due to the pandemic.
The latest count of coronavirus cases has surpassed China. This is according to new data released by John Hopkins, which showed the cases were already at more than 85,000 in the US, making it the hardest-hit country in the world after surpassing China on Thursday.
Data on coronavirus cases
The data also showed the US has 1296 fatalities as a result of the virus. This was after more than 246 fatalities were recorded on Thursday, making it the highest single-day fatalities recorded in the US since the crisis began.
Globally, more than 500,000 people have been infected with the virus and a further 24354 have succumbed to it. The growth rate of the virus has continued to grow in the past one month, with Europe becoming the new epicenter for the virus.
In Italy, the reported cases of the virus have grown exponentially, reaching a total of 80,589. The fatalities in the country have also surpassed China, which has approximately 3,000, with Italy recording more than 8,200 fatalities.
Spain has also seen its number of fatalities resulting from the coronavirus surpass China. It recorded 718 deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 4,365. The number of recorded cases on Thursday alone stood at 8,271. This was the highest single-day number of cases recorded in Spain, which brought their total number of cases to 57,786.
Economy under lockdown
The side effects of the coronavirus in the US and the rest of the world is, it has left almost a third of the world population in under some sort of restrictions. This has affected the economies of these countries and the laying-off of workers negatively.
The US, for instance, saw the highest number of unemployment filings in a single week since they started keeping the data in 1967. Three million Americans filed for unemployment as of Thursday. The senate, however, passed a relief bill that would send direct cheques to Americans, which will alleviate some of their financial struggles during the lockdown.
China, on the other hand, has continued to improve and has all but completely put the spread of the coronavirus under control in their country. Hubei and other affected areas are now returning to business after the government lifted restrictions. This is a clear indication the virus can be controlled with the right measures.
Featured image by Pixabay
