Spain’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic jumped to 5,690 on Saturday, with 832 patients dying in the past 24 hours, according to the health ministry.
The announcement came as the number of people infected with the virus in the United States hit more than 104,000, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, with deaths surpassing 1,700.
Italy, meanwhile, announced 919 new deaths from the coronavirus, the highest number of fatalities any country has reported in the space of 24 hours since the outbreak began late last year. The total number of people who have died as a result of COVID-19 in Italy now stands at 9,134.
Worldwide, the number of cases has reached more than 600,000, of which more than 131,000 people have recovered. More than 27,000 have died.
At least 410 people in the United States died of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 1,709 in the country, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The total number of cases in the US increased by 18,848 in the last 24 hours, reaching 104,860 in total. The country is on top of the list of highest number of cases around the world, with the death toll and number of cases rapidly increasing.
States worst hit by the outbreak are New York and New Jersey. In the past 24 hours, 144 people died in New York, 175 in Washington and 119 died in Louisiana.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has recorded its first death due to coronavirus, its health ministry said.
The island nation of roughly 21 million has 110 infected cases. So far, all patients who test positive for COVID-19 are being treated at the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) in Colombo.
In Germany, the measures taken to stem the spread of the coronavirus will continue to remain effective until at least April 20, a minister said.
Speaking to German daily Tagesspiegel, Helge Braun, the head of the Chancellery and federal minister, said the government’s top priority is to not allow the blockage of the health system.
“We are not going to alleviate the extreme measures until at least April 20. We will then re-negotiate the necessary steps to be taken for future,” Braun told daily.
According to data compiled by the US-based John Hopkins University, more than 53,300 cases have been reported in Germany, with the death toll reaching 399 and over 6,600 recoveries.
In the meantime, Russia will close its borders starting on March 30 in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a government order published on Saturday said.
The measure will come in force at all road, rail and pedestrian checkpoints, and apply to Russia’s maritime borders, the government said.
It will not apply to Russian diplomats and the drivers of freight trucks, among others.
The country, which has already grounded all international flights, has reported 1,264 coronavirus cases.
Also, Pakistan has said its borders would remain closed for another two weeks, as the number of people infected with the coronavirus surpassed 1,400.
The country closed its borders with Iran, Afghanistan and India during the past weeks. They will now stay shut for 14 more days, said Moeed Yusuf, the special assistant to the prime minister on national security.
In the United Kingdom, authority said 1,019 people had died after testing positive for coronavirus by 17:00 GMT on Friday, a rise of 260 in 24 hours.
The number of people testing positive for the virus was 17,089 as of 09:00 GMT on Saturday, compared with an officially corrected number of 14,543 on Friday.
In Switzerland, the Swiss death toll from coronavirus has reached 235, rising from 197 people the previous day, according to the country’s public health ministry.
The number of confirmed cases also increased to 13,213 from 12,161 on Friday, it said.
The Alpine country of 8.6 million is deploying army medical units at hospitals to help in crisis regions like Ticino, which borders hard-hit Italy, and has begun tapping its strategic stockpile of pharmaceuticals to cover rising demand.
Ramping up its effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Indonesia’s capital Jakarta announced that the current state of emergency – imposed on March 20 – will be extended by two more weeks due to an increase in the number of infections.
“We’re preparing ways to anticipate all possibilities that could happen in the city,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan told reporters on a video conference call. “We implore people of Jakarta to not leave Jakarta, especially for their home towns.”
Indonesia confirmed 109 new coronavirus infections, taking the total cases in the country to 1,155, including 102 deaths.
