Coronavirus deaths in Europe surpass toll in Asia

Europe has suffered more deaths from coronavirus than the whole of Asia, according to an AFP tally, signaling that the epidemic could be getting worse in the West as China contains the illness.   

Confirmed deaths in Europe reached at least 3,421 on Wednesday, AFP reported, passing the 3,384 documented fatalities in Asia.   

The worrying benchmark comes as Johns Hopkins University disclosed that there are 200,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 worldwide. The number of confirmed infections has doubled globally in just 12 days.   

The disease has been particularly deadly in Italy, which has the world’s second-highest number of diagnosed cases. The country has more than 30,000 known infections and more than 2,500 deaths.   

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is considering extending a countrywide lockdown beyond April 3, local media reported, as the government scrambles to stop the spread of the deadly illness.   

afp/rt.com -18 March 2020  - 

Italy’s rate of virus infections is slowing

Italy, (Daily Mail), 18 March 2020 - Italian coronavirus infections have slowed in recent days after the country took drastic quarantine measures to stop the spread of the pathogen. 

The figures are a sobering warning to Britain, which unlike Italy has not closed schools, shut down shops or blocked travel.  

The number of daily cases in Italy has been stagnant in the last four days, settling down at around 3,500 new patients per day.

Yesterday’s increase in the overall tally was 12.6 per cent, the second-lowest rate since the virus began spreading in Italy on February 21 - offering hope that the lockdown is bearing fruit even as the death toll rose by 345 to 2,503.