Coronavirus rages on: 14,510 dead with over 3,30,000 cases in 190 countries

Geneva [Switzerland], Mar 24 (ANI): The coronavirus which started in Wuhan, China in December 2019, has so far affected people in about 190 countries globally, with over 14,000 fatalities, among other things, it has led to nationwide lockdown in several countries, a shortage of supply of essential goods and has caused huge financial loss at the stock market. Besides China, the following countries are worst-hit by the global pandemic: On Monday, Iran said that 127 people in the country have succumbed to the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 1,812.

The deadly virus has affected more than 33,000 people in Spain and more than 2,000 have died due to the virus. Another 602 people died from the COVID-19 infection in Italy in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of coronavirus deaths in the country to 6,078, Angelo Borrelli, the head of the National Civil Protection Agency said. French Health Minister, Olivier Veran said that the country registered more than 3,000 new cases of the coronavirus disease in 24 hours, bringing the total to 19,856, and 860 deaths.

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom increased by 967 to over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 6,650, the Health Ministry said on Monday. According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre, the number of confirmed cases in the United States has increased to 35,225, while the death toll reached 473.

Meanwhile, the World Bank expects to begin distributing funds from a USD 6 billion emergency package this week for nearly 50 countries to respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic, President of the World Bank Group David Malpass said in a speech on Monday. Amid the outbreak, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate halt of fighting worldwide in order to focus together on combating the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As the COVID-19 is unfolding, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects that the coronavirus will cause a global recession in 2020 that will be as bad as 2008 financial crisis, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday. (ANI)