Screenshot of WHO's updates on global coronavirus situation as of 0900 GMT, March 8. (Credit: World Health Organization)
GENEVA -- One hundred and one countries and regions have reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday morning. As of 10:00 CET (0900 GMT), March 8, 2020, a total of 105,523 confirmed cases were reported globally, among which 3,584 patients have died, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization(WHO).
A COVID-19 patient arrives at a hospital in Daegu, South Korea, March 7, 2020. (NEWSIS/Handout via Xinhua)
SEOUL -- South Korea confirmed 179 more cases of the COVID-19 on Sunday, raising the total number of infections to 7,313.As of 4:00 p.m. local time, the number of infected patients totaled 7,313, up 179 from the previous announcement as of midnight. The death toll was unchanged at 50.
Thirty-six patients were in critical conditions, raising a possibility for the fatality increase. The fatality rate stood at 0.7 percent, with the readings for those in their 70s and those in their 80s or higher gaining to 4.4 percent and 6.6 percent each.
A staff member disinfects a school after it was shut down in Hokkaido, northern Japan, Feb. 27, 2020. Japan's Education Minister Koichi Hagiuda requested all students to remain indoors and not to attend schools that have been closed to contain COVID-19. (Kyodo News/Handout via Xinhua)
TOKYO -- Japan is stepping up efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 as the number of confirmed cases rose to 468 as of 6:00 p.m. (local time) Sunday, with the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido remaining in a state of emergency. Among the confirmed cases, 454 people were infected domestically while 14 are returnees by chartered flights, according to data from public broadcaster NHK.
People wearing masks shop at a shopping center in northern Tehran, Iran, on March 5, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)
TEHRAN -- The novel coronavirus has claimed 194 lives in Iran, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced Sunday. Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of the ministry, said the total number of the confirmed cases now stands at 6,566, of whom 2,134 have recovered.
Iran's flag carrier IranAir announced on Sunday that it has suspended all its flights to and from Europe until further notice, official IRNA news agency reported.
People wearing masks kiss each other at Milan Central Railway Station in Milan, capital city of Lombardy region, Italy, March 8, 2020. (Photo by Daniele Mascolo/Xinhua)
ROME -- Italy is closing theaters, cinemas and museums across the country as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread, according to a decree signed Sunday by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Italy on Saturday saw its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases of more than 1,200 since the outbreak began in the north of the country on Feb. 21, taking the total number of infections to 5,883. The death toll from the virus in Italy has risen to 233 and the northern regions of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto account for 92 percent of recorded deaths.
A notice of limiting sales of face masks is pictured at a pharmacy in New York City, the United States, March 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
NEW YORK -- Governor of the U.S. state of New York declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the northeastern state rose to 76. At a press conference, Governor Andrew Cuomo said that New York City, the most populous metropolis in the country, has seen 11 cases, and Westchester County now has 57, an increase of 23 overnight.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States have risen to 424 by Saturday evening with 17 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 213 cases and 11 fatalities as of 4 p.m. (2100 GMT) Friday. ■
