Italy replaces Iran as country with highest coronavirus deaths after China

Italy has replaced Iran as the country with the highest number of coronavirus deaths outside of China, as its fatalities exceed 140.

The total number of people in Italy who died of the COVID-19 virus has risen to 148, the country’s Civil Protection Agency said on Thursday, after 41 deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours.

The accumulative number of cases in the country, which has been hardest hit by the virus in Europe, totalled 3,858, up from 3,089 on Wednesday.

COVID-19 has killed 92 people and infected 2,922 others in Iran as of late Wednesday, according to the Iranian Ministry of Health. Some 552 Iranians have recovered from the disease so far.

The Italian outbreak started 13 days ago. The country is believed to have been the pathogen’s gateway to Europe.

On Wednesday, Italy shut down all schools and universities until March 15 and took other emergency measures to combat the spread the new coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

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More than 93,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide and the number of deaths from the virus has reached 3,110 globally, although most of them remain confined to China, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

South Korea

South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that the number of confirmed cases in the country had reached 5,766, the largest outside China, adding that 35 people had died. Around 75 percent of the cases are in the southeastern city of Daegu.

The South Korean authorities have announced a ban on face mask exports.

On Tuesday, President Moon Jae-in said the entire country was at war with the new coronavirus, saying Seoul would inject 25 billion dollars into the economy in the wake of the outbreak.

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China

On Thursday, China reported a rise in confirmed cases of COVID-19, reversing three days in a row of declines, saying the spike had occurred due to new infections in Wuhan, the birthplace of the outbreak.

China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said that 139 new cases had been confirmed as of Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 80,409. It had reported 119 new cases on Wednesday and 125 on Tuesday.

Algeria

Algeria’s Health Ministry reported nine new confirmed cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 17.

It added that the cases included 16 people from the same family in Blida Province.

First death in Switzerland 

On Thursday, regional police in the western canton of Vaud announced the first death from the fast spreading Covid-19 disease outbreak.

The 74-year-old woman had been hospitalized at Lausanne's University Hospital since Tuesday, authorities said, adding that the high-risk patient was suffering from chronic disease.

Fifty-eight confirmed cases have been reported so far in the central European country.

Update: Iran's coronavirus deaths rise to 107

Later on Thursday, the spokesman for Iran's Health Ministry told media that 15 new deaths from the novel coronavirus have been reported, raising the national death toll to 107.

Kiyanoush Jahanpour added that 591 new cases of coronavirus infection have been also detected, taking the total number of Iranian patients to 3,513, noting that 739 coronavirus patients have been treated so far.

Earlier in the day, Iran's Health Minister Saeed Namaki said in a televised press conference that to contain further spread of the virus infection, "schools and universities will be closed until the end" of the current Iranian year (March 19).”

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