COVID-19 deaths surpass 200,000 globally
Published:Saturday | April 25, 2020 | 12:00 AM
More than 200,000 people have now died globally from COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University data, while confirmed cases are getting closer to 3 million.
The university's tracker shows 202, 270 deaths worldwide with a total of 2,886,408 confirmed infections.
The US has experienced well over 50,000 deaths international media houses report, although the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center only highlights data on the more than 17,000 deaths in New York, the US epicentre, in its global map.
Italy has recorded more than 26,000 deaths, the most in Europe, followed by Spain with nearly 23,000; France with more than 22,600 and the United Kingdom with more than 20,000.
The BBC reports that Britain's Home Secretary, Priti Patel, described its 20,000 deaths as a "tragic and terrible milestone" and said "the entire nation is grieving".
It says the UK's daily data does not include people who die at home or in nursing homes, the true figure is certain to be higher.
France, which does include deaths in care homes in its statistics, said its toll had risen by 369 on Saturday.
French health officials say the mortality rate in hospitals is falling, and the number of people in intensive care has dropped for the 17th consecutive day.
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