Tragic milestone: Global COVID-19 deaths surpass 4 million-mark

NEW YORK: The global COVID-19 death toll has surpassed the grim milestone of 4 million-mark, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Argentina registered 457 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, raising the total death toll from the pandemic to 97,439, its Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

In the same period, tests detected 19,423 new cases of infection, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 4,593,763, Xinhua reported citing the ministry.

Southwest China`s Yunnan Province reported two locally transmitted COVID-19 confirmed cases, both in the city of Ruili, on Wednesday, the provincial health commission said on Thursday.

The two confirmed cases were previously found and categorized as asymptomatic infections in the all-inclusive nucleic acid testing in Ruili, the commission said.

Meanwhile, Brazil registered 1,648 more deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 528,540, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

A total of 54,022 new infections were detected, raising the total caseload to 18,909,037, the ministry said.

Chile reported less than 2,000 Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive day, continuing a gradual decline in infections prior to a lifting of a lockdown, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Health Minister Enrique Paris said that in the last 24 hours, 1,892 Covid-19 infections were reported, bringing the total number to 1,576,336.

Cuba registered a new record of daily Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, with 3,664 cases, for a total of 214,577, along with 18 more deaths to total 1,405.

National director of hygiene and epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health Francisco Duran reported that of the total number of new cases, 3,622 were from community transmission.