Coronavirus: Total confirmed COVID-19 cases cross 10 lakh worldwide; more than 50,000 dead

The number of 'confirmed' coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the world crossed 10 lakh around late Thursday night, with the Coronavirus Resource Center at the John Hopkins University putting the total number of confirmed cases worldwide at 1,014,673 on Friday at 7 AM.

It is worth noting that it just took a little over 24 hours for the number of global cases to jump from nine lakh to 10 lakh. As statistics display on Friday, the number of positive COVID-19 in the US now stands at 244,678 while the tally showed concerning numbers well beyond one lakh in and Spain and Italy as well. As of now, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Spain and Italy stand at 1,12,065, and 1,15,242 respectively.

The global death toll crossed 50,000 overnight and now stands at 52,973, according to the university resource center, with the most number of deaths yet in Italy (13,915 deaths) followed by Spain (10,348 deaths) and France (5,387 deaths). Notably, the number of deaths in Spain and France crossed 10,000 and 5,000 over the night as well.

The situation in the United Kingdom, too, continued to remain more or less the same as 4,244 new cases and 569 new deaths were reported in the country in the past 24 hours. In a rather concerning piece of news, two teenagers, a 13-year-old boy, and a 19-year-old man were reported to have contracted the coronavirus in the country, according to the UK government data. The number of positive COVID-19 cases in the UK crossed 30,000 on Thursday itself and now stands at 34,173 with 2,921 total deaths from the virus.

India, too, witnessed the maximum number of coronavirus COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours (April 1 midnight to April 2 midnight) with 545 new infections and 14 new deaths reported from different parts of the country taking the total cases past the 2,000-mark, at 2,069 total confirmed COVID-19 cases and 53 deaths, according to the latest government update. 156 people have been cured so far.

Efforts to trace hundreds of invitees to the Nizamuddin Nizamuddin Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in New Delhi, which is emerging as one of the coronavirus hotspots in India, continued as a nationwide hunt across states have identified more than 6,000 people who attended the congregation. According to the ministry officials, cases have increased largely due to Tablighi Jamaat congregation, which took place in mid-March, and therefore technically it does not show a national trend. They urged people to follow guidelines during the lockdown period and avoid congregations, including religious gatherings.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi were among the places to report a large number of new cases.

Prime Minister Narendra also held a video conference with all chief ministers on Thursday during which issues such as ways to contain the spread of COVID-19, movement of migrants and contact tracing of Tablighi Jamat participants were discussed, sources said.

China, where the outbreak was first reported, is now fifth in terms of the number of cases (82,433 cases) and fourth when it comes to the death toll (3,199 deaths).