The world is now recording over 1 million cases of coronavirus as of Thursday, April 2nd, (18:16 GMT), according to Worldometers, and BNO Tracking Coronavirus. That is not only due to the increase of the spread but to more mass testing being performed. Since first identified in December 2019, the virus spread rapidly at an unforeseeable rate.
On March 11th, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. By that time, the new coronavirus had already swept through East Asia, the Middle East, and the Arab Gulf, as well as some countries of Europe, including Italy that has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe,
The latest country to be blighted with the virus is the United States, which has a total of 237,812 cases, as of the time of writing.
With the now-recorded 1M cases, there have also been around 210,000 recoveries and a toll of about 51,333 deaths, at the time of writing. Countries marking the highest number of deaths are Italy (about 13,900), Spain (about 10,000), and the United States (about 5,600).
Amid that, however, the world hasn’t been idle. Governments have been imposing severe measures to contain the spread in their countries as a must to put a stop to it, and scientists worldwide have been racing against it, working around the clock.
China has been working on a vaccine that they expect to release this month. The United States is testing vaccines, and the UK is set to test theirs in summer, among others.
In the Netherlands, scientists found an antibody that can block the infection of the virus that causes COVID-19. As for Germany, it is looking into testing antibodies of people who’ve recovered from the virus and allow them to resume back their normal lives.
Get the latest news and updates about the coronavirus outbreak in Lebanon along with a live monitor of cases in Lebanon as well as resources and information to help you guide the outbreak on our dedicated coronavirus page.