The death toll from the newly created Coronavirus in the world has exceeded 140,000, about two thirds of it in Europe, according to an AFP count based on official sources at 18:00 GMT on Thursday.
The total deaths of Covid-19 since the first outbreak of the epidemic in China in December, 140,902 cases in the world, including 92,900 cases in Europe out of two million and 125041 cases in the world, including one million and 81,235 cases in the old continent.
In the United States, the country with the most recorded deaths of Covid-19, the death toll reached 31590 deaths, followed by Italy with 22,170 deaths, then Spain with 19,130 deaths, then France with 17920 cases and Britain with 13920 deaths.
The World Health Organization warned Thursday that Europe is still “in the eye of a hurricane” in relation to the outbreak of the new Coronavirus, at a time when several governments have decided or intend to reduce the isolation measures imposed in the context of combating the global epidemic.
The United Nations urged the leaders of European countries not to “become indolent” and to verify that the virus was under control before the restrictions were lifted.
In Britain, the death toll from the coronavirus during the past 24 hours has increased by 861 new cases and amounted to 13,729 deaths.
The British Ministry of Health confirmed today, Thursday, in its daily report on Coronavirus outbreak, that the total number of covid-19 infections in the United Kingdom amounted to 103,093 cases, recording 4,618 new infections during the last day.
Over 13.8 thousand people in Britain underwent coronavirus testing during the last 24 hours, and the total number reached 327.6 thousand.
On Thursday, the British government announced the extension of the quarantine measures taken on March 23 for “at least three weeks”, in the context of its efforts to curb the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Foreign Minister Dominic Rapp, who has been in charge of Prime Minister Boris Johnson since he was infected with the virus, said the current measures should be extended for “at least three weeks.”
Rapp is acting on behalf of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is undergoing convalescence after receiving hospital treatment after he was infected with the emerging coronavirus.
“I think everyone is seeing that we have been clear about our belief that it is too early to make a difference,” Hancock told the BBC.
“We can see that we are peaking, and that’s good news, but we can see that the numbers haven’t started to fall yet, so we can’t make any change,” Hancock added.
Hancock explained: “I understand those who are demanding an end to the closure or the initiation of some kind of exit strategy now, but I think it is too early.”
Neil Ferguson, the epidemiologist at the Imperial College of London, told the BBC that he believed the daily number of cases in Britain “peaked two weeks ago”.
The Ministry of Health registered 861 other deaths associated with Covid-19 today, bringing the total number of deaths in Britain to about 14,000.
The ministry said it had recorded a total of 103,000 cases of infection among the 328,000 people who had undergone coronavirus detection, including 19,000 in the past 24 hours, far below the target number of 100,000 tests per day by the end of this month.
