It has been over nine months since the first-known cases of the coronavirus were reported in Wuhan in December 2019. Since then, the virus has spread to almost 210 countries and territories across the world, and has now claimed 1-million lives.
The grim milestone was reached on Tuesday morning [September 29]. Thus far, 33 574 198 people have tested positive for the virus and 1 006 868 have died. Over 24-million people have recovered globally.
A million lives extinguished (likely more since we have no handle on excess mortality globally). A million life stories, a million voices, a million minds with their own hopes for the future, a million people who were not you or me but could have been with the turn of chance.
— Dr. Nahid Bhadelia (@BhadeliaMD) September 29, 2020
Leading the confirmed cases are the United States, followed by India and Brazil. Countries rounding out the top 10 include Russia, Columbia, Peru, Spain, Mexico, Argentina and South Africa.
Europe is currently battling a second resurgence, with many countries opting to reimpose hard lockdown restrictions to curb the spread.
The latest data update shows that South Africa has a cumulative number of 671 669 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 16 586 COVID-19 related deaths. Our recoveries now stand at 604 478 which translates to a recovery rate of 90%.
Picture: Pexels
