Coronavirus COVID-19 cases rise to 2.40 lakh globally; US death toll cross 40,000

The coronavirus COVID-19 on Monday (April 20, 2020) as of 7.30 AM IST infected over 24 lakh people across the globe with taking more than 1,65,000 lives.

As per Johns Hopkins University, over 24,02,798 people have been infected with the virus and around 1,65,154 lives have been lost due to the virus that was first reported in late December 2019 in Wuhan (China).

The United States (US) has registered the most number of COVID-19 confirmed cases where the total number has surged to 7,58,720.

Spain on the second position has recorded over 1,98,674 positive cases whereas Italy has more than 1,78,972 COVID-19 patients.

Italy is followed by France (1,54,098 cases), Germany (1,45,742 cases) and the United Kingdom (1,21,172 cases). 

The other countries with the most numbers of COVID-19 positive cases are Turkey (86,306), China (83,805), Iran (82,211) and Russia (42,853).

On the list of the countries witnessing most deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the US remained on the top spot where 40,666 people have succumbed to the fatal virus. More than 10,000 deaths have been reported in the US over the past four days after the 30,000-death threshold was passed on Thursday. The state of New York has been the epicenter of the outbreak in the US, having registered 13,869 deaths as of Sunday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a press briefing.

Italy on the second position has seen more than 23,660 fatalities. Spain being the third worst-hit nation has lost close to 20,500 of its people.

Spain is followed by France where the death count is on a verge to cross 20,000-mark. Over 19,744 French people have died due to the coronavirus till Monday morning.

The UK with 16,060 deaths, New York with 13,157 fatalities, Belgium with 5,683 casualties and Iran with 5,118 COVID-19 deaths are the other worst affected places around the globe.

The history of the virus goes back to December 2019 in China where a 34-year-old ophthalmologist named Dr Li Wenliang tried to send a message to other medics warning them about a new virus in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province. Dr Li lost his life on February 6, 2020, after catching the virus while treating infected patients in Wuhan.

In late January, an 80-year-old tourist died in France which was reportedly Europe's first coronavirus death. 

The virus appeared in Iran five days later where two people died within hours of their diagnosis being announced. 

Italy saw a major surge in cases on February 23, and 10 towns in Lombardy went into lockdown which was later extended to the whole country.