Global COVID-19 Cases Touch 3 Million As Many Countries Loosen Lockdowns

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JAKARTA - The globally confirmed cases of COVID-19 have surpassed the three million mark. According to data from World O Meter, one million cases of which are confirmed cases in the United States (US), which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world.

The touch of the three million mark occurred when many countries began to take steps to lift the lockdown rules and relax the physical distancing rules that had been in effect for the last 2-3 months.

The first 41 cases were confirmed in Wuhan, China, on January 10, Reuters reported. The increase in cases to three million confirmed cases in less than four months equates to an estimated 3-5 million cases of severe illness caused by seasonal influenza worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

An average of 82,000 cases were reported per day in the past week. More than a quarter of all cases are in the US and more than 43 percent have been recorded in Europe. The death toll from the virus reached more than 211,000 cases as of Tuesday, April 28 and one in seven reported cases of the disease were fatal.

Some of the countries most affected in Europe are Italy, France and Spain. However, according to daily reports, there has been a decline in the number of cases over the past few weeks, but still recorded 2,000-5,000 new cases per day in the past week.

Loosened rules

The country hardest hit by COVID-19, Italy, will soon allow some factories to resume operations on May 4 as part of the opening. Meanwhile Spain relaxed its lockdown rules on Sunday April 26, which allowed children in Spain to return to playing outside under supervision.

Several US states have reopened businesses amid predictions that the unemployment rate could reach 16 percent for April. Whereas in Asia, which accounts for just under 7 percent of all cases, several countries are struggling to control new infections.

These include Japan and Singapore, which reported an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in April despite previous efforts to slow the spread. Another country that has managed to control the outbreak is South Korea (South Korea) which has reported around 10 cases per day in the past week.

In China, where the virus first emerged, health authorities reported only three new cases on Sunday April 26 and said all patients in Wuhan had now been discharged from hospitals and care centers.

The number of cases continues to rise faster than the global average in Latin America and Africa. Total cases in Mexico grew 7-10 percent a day in the past week. Meanwhile, cases in Brazil surpassed 67,446. More than 40 percent of the 32,600 cases in Africa are in the north, namely Morocco, Egypt and Algeria. The three countries reported that the COVID-19 outbreak had reached serious levels.