The coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak on Wednesday (April 15, 2020) infected over twenty lakh people across the 193 countries and territories.
According to Johns Hopkins University as on Wednesday at 10:45 PM IST, the total number of coronavirus positive cases jumped to 20,16,020. The fatal virus has now taken over 1,30,528 lives since its outbreak in the world.
The United States (US) has been the worst-hit country which has reported over 6,13,187 confirmed cases. Earlier on Wednesday, the US President Donald Trump also instructed his administration to temporarily halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) over its handling of the coronavirus disease pandemic. President Trump said the WHO had failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable. He added it promoted China's disinformation about the coronavirus that was likely to have led to a wider outbreak of disease.
Spain remained on the second spot with around 1,77,633 COVID-19 positive cases.
Italy on the third spot reported over 2,667 new confirmed cases in a day. The total confirmed cases in the country surged to 1,65,155. The number of positive cases was the lowest since March 13 but the daily count of deaths remained high.
Germany with approximately 1,33,154 positive cases is the fourth-worst affected nation in the world. Germany is also thinking to extend its restrictions to May 3 to combat the global pandemic.
France on the fifth spot recorded over 1,31,365 COVID-19 confirmed cases.
The United Kingdom till Wednesday evening witnessed close to 1 lakh confirmed cases. The number of people who came in contact with the coronavirus jumped to 99,455. The UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government will introduce new procedures to limit the risk of the infection and allow people to say goodbye to loved ones wherever possible.
China which is reportedly the country where the deadly virus originated, has recorded over 83,356 COVID-19 cases.
Iran with 76,389 cases, Turkey with 65,111, Belgium having 33,573 infections and Netherlands with 28,314 confirmed cases are the other worst affected countries around the world.
On the list of the places with most deaths due to the coronavirus in the world, the US remained the worst-hit country with over 26,950 people succumbing to the disease.
Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 578 on Wednesday, down from 602 the day before. It has hovered between 525 and 636 for the last 11 days now. The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21 surged to 21,645.
Spain on the third spot recorded over 18,579 deaths in the country. France remained the fourth most affected country where around 15,729 people have died till now due to the virus.
The UK reported close to 13,000 deaths on Wednesday. The death count in the UK rose to 12,868, a daily increase of 761, as the government announced new plans to modify its guidance to allow close relatives to say goodbye to their sick relatives in care homes across the country.
New York City (US) with 7,905 deaths, Iran with 4,777 fatalities, Belgium with 4,440 and Germany with 3,592 are the other worst-hit places across the globe.
