Global death toll from coronavirus rises to 2,979

The deadly disease coronavirus or COVID-19 has continued to spread globally.

So far, 2,979 people died from the virus across the globe. Mainland China reported 573 new confirmed coronavirus cases as of Saturday, up from 427 the previous day and the highest daily increase in a week, the country’s health authority said Sunday.

The number of deaths stood at 35, down from 47 on the previous day, bringing the total death toll in mainland China to 2,870, the National Health Commission said.

Outside of China, South Korea has confirmed 3,150 novel coronavirus cases, 17 deaths have been reported.

Iran has reported 43 deaths, with its former ambassador to the Vatican among the fatalities. Iran's Vice President for women and family affairs has also tested positive for the virus.

Italy has 1,128 confirmed cases, including 29 fatalities, the most in Europe.

An American man in his 50s has died from Covid-19 on Saturday which is the first Covid-19 death in the U.S.

A total of 947 people were confirmed infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Japan. 705 of them are from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, according to Japan's health ministry on Sunday.

Australia confirmed Sunday its first death from the coronavirus amid a rise in the number of cases nationwide, a chief health officer said on Sunday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the global coronavirus risk is now "very high."

Source: Agencies

Dhaka/AI