GENEVA, March 29. /TASS/. A total of 571,678 coronavirus cases and 26,494 deaths have been confirmed globally as of 10 a.m. Geneva time on March 28, according to a new bulletin released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday.
According to the WHO statistics, over the past 24 hours the number of coronavirus cases has risen by more than 62,000, and the death toll has climbed by 3,159. Most coronavirus cases and deaths were reported in Europe - 324,343 and 18,740, respectively. Over the past day, the number of coronavirus cases there has risen by 37,646, while the death toll surged by 2,635.
The Western Pacific Region, which includes China, South Korea and Japan, comes in second with 101,462 cases and 3,592 deaths. The region of the North and South Americas is in third place with a total of 100,314 cases and 1,485 deaths.
United States
More than 2,000 people died of the novel coronavirus infection in the United States, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which publishes its own statistics based on aggregate data from regional authorities, the World Health Organization and other sources.
According to the organization, the United States has 2,010 deaths caused by COVID-19. The number of those infected with the novel coronavirus has reached 121,117.
Italy
The novel coronavirus death toll in Italy increased by 889 people in the past 24 hours, surpassing 10,000, Head of Italy’s Civil Protection Department Angelo Borelli said.
"At present, we have 70,065 infected persons, up 3,651 from yesterday. This includes 3,856 people in intensive care. Regretfully, the number of those who died in the past 24 hours is 889. 12,384 people have recovered, up 1.434 since Friday," he said.
According to him, the country’s complete novel coronavirus death toll now stands at 10,032. A record number of coronavirus patients - 968 - died in the country on Friday.
The overall number of confirmed cases in Italy since the start of the outbreak has reached 92,472. This is the second-biggest outbreak worldwide, after the United States.
France
The number of deaths among novel coronavirus patients in France has reached 2,314, the country’s main healthcare department reported on Saturday night.
The death toll increased by 319 people in the past 24 hours.
A total of 486 people were transferred to intensive care in the reported period, bringing the overall number to 4,237.
The number of confirmed cases in France has reached 37,575. About 17,620 of them are in hospitals, including 1,888 people admitted in past day. A total of 6,624 patients have already been discharged, including 926 in the past 24 hours.
Germany
The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Germany has reached 54,212, about 400 of them died, Germany’s DPA news agency said citing information received from regional authorities.
A total of 397 people died of the disease on the German territory. Besides, several Germans died abroad, including two in Egypt, one in Cyprus and one in Greece.
The North Rhine-Westphalia region remains the hotspot of the infection with 12,744 confirmed cases, followed by Bavaria (11,862) and Baden-Wurttemberg (10,819 cases).
In late December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus was reported in central China’s Hubei province. After the coronavirus denoted as COVID-19 broke out of the region, it spread across China and then throughout the world, affecting more than 160 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.