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Coronavirus pandemic

Two footballers of German FC Bayern Munich donate over $1 million to fight COVID-19 threat

Germany has a total number of over 17,770 registered COVID-19 cases in the country with 48 deaths caused by the novel coronavirus

MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. German football club Bayern Munich’s midfielders Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich have decided to donate one million euros ($1.07) to charity organizations, which are raising funds to fight the ongoing global spread of the novel coronavirus, Goretzka announced on his Twitter web page on Friday.

"We can outplay anyone on the field, but we must unite to defeat coronavirus," Goretzka Tweeted. "This is why we have decided jointly with Kimmich to kick off initiative #WeKickCorona and have donated one million euros to social and charity foundations."

Germany has a total number of over 17,770 registered COVID-19 cases in the country with 48 deaths caused by the novel coronavirus. Last week German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that up to 70% of the country’s population was likely to have contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

COVID-19 Global Spread

On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, an economic and industrial megalopolis with a population of 11 million.

The virus was identified on January 7 as 2019-nCoV. The World Health Organization declared in January that the new coronavirus outbreak was a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations.

On February 11, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the organization gave the novel coronavirus an official name of COVID-19. On March 11, the World Health Organization officially stated that the continuously spreading novel coronavirus was a global pandemic.

As of today, 182 countries and territories reported confirmed coronavirus cases. According to the latest reports, over 252,770 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide. The virus’ death toll has reached 10,405, yet more than 89,050 patients have recovered from the disease.

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