Washington: The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 16.6 million, while the deaths have increased to over 659,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
As of Wednesday morning, the total number of cases stood at 16,667,130, while the fatalities rose to 659,045, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.
The US accounted for the world’s highest number of infections and fatalities at 4,349,324 and 149,235, respectively, according to the CSSE.Brazil came in the second place with 2,483,191 infections and 88,539 deaths.
In terms of cases, India ranks third (1,483,156), and is followed by Russia (822,060), South Africa (459,761), Mexico (402,697), Peru (389,717), Chile (349,800), the UK (302,293), Iran (296,273), Spain (280,610 ), Pakistan (275,225), Saudi Arabia (270,831), Colombia (257,101), Italy (246,488), Bangladesh (229,185 ),Turkey (227,982), France (221,077), Germany (207,707 ), Argentina (173,355 ), Canada (116,871), Iraq (115,332), Qatar (109,880) and Indonesia (102,051), the CSSE figures showed.
The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are the UK (45,963), Mexico (44,876), Italy (35,123), India (33,425), France (30,226), Spain (28,436 ), Peru (18,418), Iran (16,147 ) and Russia (13,483).
Meanwhile, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the announcement Tuesday at a meeting with security officials that he was tested positive, the state news agency Belta reported. He had previously dismissed concerns about the coronavirus as psychosis.
“Today you are meeting with a person who managed to survive the coronavirus on his feet. Doctors made such a conclusion yesterday: asymptomatic,” he said.
Belarus took no comprehensive measures against the coronavirus, such as lockdowns or ordering social distancing. The country has about 67,000 confirmed cases of infection and 543 reported deaths.