Over 2.5 million infections of covid-19Â have been recorded globally, leading to the death of 180,000 persons.
Experts say the grim milestone vastly understate the true spread and toll of the contagion because of a lack of widespread testing.
About 500,O00 new infections and 50,O00 deaths have been added in less than seven days as the tally grows steadily.
The actual number of cases is much higher than the official figures with countries varying in how much they are testing people.
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Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with over 200 million populace, has conducted only thousands of tests while having a case count of fewer than 1, 000.
There is no vaccine yet for the coronavirus. A recent study found that the deadly disease can spread through the air and remains contagious for hours.
Some European countries hoping that the worst is behind them are beginning to take careful steps to lift restrictions imposed to slow the virus but outbreaks in many other parts of the world are still considered far from their peaks.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) cautioned patience before lifting social distancing restrictions, noting that the repercussions of any premature end to lockdowns could be deadly.
The brunt of the coronavirus has been felt most heavily in U.S, Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and South-east Asia. The disease is gradually starting to wreak havoc in Africa and South America and the WHO is particularly concerned with the ability of the poorest countries in the world to control the disease.
Confirmed cases
As of the time of reporting, there were 2,605,771 confirmed cases across the globe, data from worldometers.info, an online dashboard that tracks the global number of confirmed coronavirus cases, showed.
The number of infected people crossed a million threshold on April 2, doubling 13 days later.
The three worst-hit countries: the U.S., Spain, and Italy alone have a combined figure of more than a million infections, about half of the global total.
There are 1,711, 971 active cases as of the time of reporting. Of that number, about 1,655,088 are in mild conditions while over 56, 883 cases are in serious or critical conditions.
Meanwhile, about 712,324 people have recovered after treatment so far worldwide.
Deaths
After the death toll in the U.S crossed over 40, 000, the total global death toll surpassed 180,000.
As of the time of reporting, about 181,476 people have succumbed to coronavirus, data from worldometers.info showed.
Some experts believe the death toll could be higher as many people suspected of the disease die without being tested.
Countries have continued to report inadequate testing kits for potential patients of the virus.
Europe is the worst-affected region with the combined death toll in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the U.K approaching 100, 000, more than half the global total — demonstrating the high price nations can pay if the virus outstrips the capacity of a country’s health care system.
The United States which already has the highest number of reported infections in the world – over 800, 000 – is the country with the highest death toll of more than 46, 000.
The United States
With 829, 392 confirmed cases, infections in the U.S. account for more than 25 per cent of the global tally, according to worldometer.info.
The virus has infected more than 250, 000 people in New York alone, killing over 18, 000 there, 10 per cent of the official global tally.
U.S. officials and some economists have warned against comparing coronavirus case numbers from country to country due to concerns around reporting methodology.
Local and state officials in the U.S. have also acknowledged that the true number of COVID-19 cases in the country is likely far higher than those that have been confirmed due to testing shortages and restrictions.
Africa
There are now more than over 22, 000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across Africa, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic.
According to the latest data by the Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, the breakdown remains fluid as countries confirm cases erratically. The whole of Africa has rising cases with only two countries holding out.
Comoros and Lesotho in the Southern African region are yet to confirm cases.
The death toll in Africa clocked past a thousand threshold. Among the dead is President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, who died on Friday.
Other prominent people who have succumbed to the deadly disease in the continent of over a billion people include the former president of the Republic of the Congo, Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango and Somalia’s former prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein.
Dozens of health officials have also died.
Though the tally is still relatively low compared to global figures, it has doused the debate on the continent having some kind of immunity against COVID-19 due to its sunny temperature.
Governments across Africa are now rushing to reinforce measures to contain the spread of the disease, knowing that their fragile health systems will be swiftly overwhelmed if the disease spreads beyond a small number of cases.
Algeria has the highest number of fatalities – 402 with about 2,910 infections followed by Egypt with 264 deaths and about 3, 490 cases. About 149 deaths and 3, 377 infections have been recorded in Morocco.
South Africa has over 3, 465 cases with 58 deaths.
Nigeria has recorded 782 infections and 22 deaths.
