Over 1 lakh coronavirus cases across globe in last 36 hours, death toll crosses 30,000

The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc across the globe killing thousands and infecting lakhs of people, the total number of positive cases across the globe reached 662,073 and 30,780 people died according to figures by Johns Hopkins University at 06:30 am IST on Sunday. 

The last 36 hours have been the worst in terms of the number of positive cases recorded and the death toll since the outbreak in December 2019 in China as over one lakh people have tested positive in this time period. In Italy, over 10,000 people have died due to the deadly virus, the highest in any country. 

Coronavirus took 67 days to infect the first 1 lakh people after the outbreak in December 2019. The next 1 lakh were infected in 11 days while the virus took four days to reach the 3 lakh-mark. From 3 to 4 lakh took just three days and the next 1 lakh took only two days. And the virus is only gaining momentum in its scale and speed of infecting people as it took only 36 hours to infect to infect one lakh more people.

The latest figures show that the global community must come together to slow the virus' spread. The US now leads the world in reported infections with more than 110,000 cases followed by other worst-hit five other nations - Italy, Spain, Germany, Iran and France. Italy has recorded the maximum deaths which have exceeded 10,000 while Spain has over 5,000 deaths and Iran 2,500 fatalities.

"We cannot completely prevent infections at this stage, but we can and must in the immediate future achieve fewer new infections per day, a slower spread," German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is in quarantine at home after her doctor tested positive for the virus, told her compatriots in an audio message. Merkel appealed to Germans to be patient. Her chief of staff said Germany, where authorities closed nonessential shops and banned gatherings of more than two in public, won't relax its restrictions before April 20.

The virus has already has put health systems in Italy, Spain and France under extreme strain. Lockdowns of varying severity have been introduced across Europe, nearly emptying streets in normally bustling cities, including Paris where drone photos showed the city's landmarks eerily deserted.

In Spain, where stay-at-home restrictions have been in place for nearly two weeks, reported 832 more deaths on Saturday, its highest daily count yet. Another 8,000 confirmed infections pushed that count above 72,000. But Spain's director of emergencies, Fernando Simon, saw a ray of hope, noting that the rate of infection is slowing and figures indicate that the outbreak is stabilizing and may be reaching its peak in some areas.