COVID-19: Global Death Toll Reaches 1 Lakh mark

COVID-19: Global Death Toll Reaches 1 Lakh mark

The number of deaths linked to the novel coronavirus reached 100,000 on Friday, as the tally of cases passed 1.6 million, according to a Reuters tally. The first death came in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on January 9. It took 83 days for the first 50,000 deaths to be recorded and just eight more for the toll to climb to 1,00,000.

Reportedly, the count has been accelerating at a daily rateof between 6% and 10% over the past week, and there were almost 7,300. Thedeath count now compares with that of London's Great Plague in the mid-1660s,which killed an estimated 100,000 people, about a third of the city'spopulation at the time.

The novel coronavirus is believed to have emerged in a Wuhanmarket where wild animals were sold late last year. It quickly spread throughChina and around the world. Much remains to be determined about it, includingjust how lethal it is. Estimates vary widely.

Friday's figures 100,000 deaths of out 1.6 million cases wouldsuggest a fatality rate of 6.25% but many experts believe the actual rate islower given that many mild and asymptomatic cases, when infected people don'tshow symptoms, are not included in case totals.

Some countries, including Italy, France, Algeria, the Netherlands, Spain, and Britain are reporting that more than 10% of all confirmed cases have been fatal. One of the largest studies of the fatality of the disease, involving 44,000 patients in China, but the rate at about 2.9%. The same study reported that 93% of recorded fatalities were people over the age of 50, and more than half were over 70.

Despite that, there are growing numbers of young adults andteenagers included in the global toll. While North America now accounts formore than 30% of cases, Europe has reported a disproportionate number offatalities, as countries with older populations like Spain and Italy have beenseverely affected.

Southern Europe alone accounts for more than a third ofglobal deaths, despite recording just 20% of cases. In many countries, officialdata includes only deaths reported in hospitals, not those in homes or nursinghomes.

In India, the death toll due to coronavirus rose to 206 and the number of cases climbed to 6,761 on Friday, a record spike of 896 cases and 37 deaths in 24 hours since Thursday evening, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 6,039, 515 people have been cured and discharged and one had migrated, it said. The total number of cases includes 71 foreign nationals.

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