Tue 31 March 2020:
The global tally of confirmed coronavirus cases climbed past 800,000 on Tuesday, according to figures compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
The COVID-19 virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China last December, has spread to at least 178 countries and regions around the globe, while a total of 38,714 people have died as recoveries hit 170,325.
Italy, Spain, China and Iran continue to be the most affected countries, while the highest number of coronavirus-related cases are in the U.S. with more than 164,600 cases. The U.S. has confirmed 3,170 deaths due to the virus.
Italy recorded the highest number of fatalities with 11,591 and over 101,700 positive cases, while Spain has reported 8,189 deaths among confirmed cases of nearly 94,500. China, the ground zero of the virus, follows Spain with 3,309 deaths, while its confirmed cases have neared 82,300.
Meanwhile, the death toll is 2,898 in Iran, with the confirmed number of cases is over 44,600.
Many countries have restricted travel from the most affected areas and implemented lockdowns as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic and Europe the new epicenter of the outbreak.
The Johns Hopkins figures far exceed official tallies compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that are updated daily, but only for cases reported by 4.00 p.m. local time (2000GMT) the preceding day.
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