Coronavirus pandemic has now killed more 5,000 people as Europe continues to battle escalating crisis
- A total of 3,176 people have died in mainland China, where the outbreak started
- Two other countries with the highest death tolls are Italy (1,016) and Iran (514)
- More than 134,300 have been infected since COVID-19 appeared in December
- Europe has rapidly become the new epicentre of the killer coronavirus
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic today soared past 5,000 as Europe continues to battle its escalating crisis.
A total of 3,176 people have died in mainland China, followed by 1,016 in Italy, and 514 in Iran – the three countries with the highest number of deaths.
Since COVID-19 was first detected in December, more than 134,300 people have been infected in 121 countries and territories.
Cases have also soared past 600 in the UK, after Wales confirmed 13 people had been diagnosed today.
Europe has rapidly become the new epicentre of the killer coronavirus, with a total of 28,549 cases.
Travel across the 51 states has been partially suspended to curb the epidemic which largely stemmed from an outbreak in northern Italy.
The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic today soared past 5,000
The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic today soared past 5,000. A medic wearing protective clothing treats a patient in Iran today
Medics and nurses wearing masks and hazmat suits treat patients infected with the new coronavirus COVID-19, at Sina hospital in southern Tehran, Iran
Europe has rapidly become the new epicentre of the killer coronavirus. Pictured, a man wearing a protective face mask as commuters cross London Bridge this morning
Travel across the 51 states has been partially suspended to curb the epidemic which largely stemmed from an outbreak in northern Italy. Pictured, a worker sanitising the streets of Milan
New cases of the coronavirus – which had never been seen before December 2019 – are being reported daily around the world.
Kazakhstan, Kenya and Ethiopia today confirmed their first cases. The only places in Europe left to declare a case are Montenegro and Kosovo.
Turkey has become the most recent EU state to be hit with coronaivrus, with its second case announced today.
The killer bug first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. A small cluster of people had pneumonia with an unknown cause, which spurred scientists on to do further tests.
COVID-19 is the name given to the disease caused by the coronavirus, which can cause mild symptoms or leave some hospitalised and battling to survive.
The impact on the world has been large enough for the World Health Organization to label the crisis a ‘pandemic’.
Some countries that were initially the worst effected are seeing improvements – South Korea, once the largest coronavirus outbreak outside China, today reported its lowest number of new cases for three weeks.
China has benefited from strict lock downs never practised before. At its coronaivrus peak in mid-February, the country was recording around 3,500 new cases a day.
This dramatically slowed, with only 26 new cases recorded yesterday.
However, the infection is sweeping across Europe. The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has jumped by 33 per cent in the last 24 hours.
More than 1,016 people have died across the nation, 189 of whom were in a single day.