Global COVID-19 deaths top 500,000!

South Africa, the most-affected country in the region, registered a caseload of 138,134 on Sunday, of which 6,334 were reported in the past 24 hours.

South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Sunday urged his countrymen to prepare for a further surge in cases during the winter season.

It is anticipated that every province will unfortunately witness an increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases, the minister said, identifying Gauteng and Western Cape provinces as the most noticeable hotspots.

Egypt confirmed on Sunday 1,265 new COVID-19 infections, raising the country’s total to 65,188.

Daily infections in Egypt have been surpassing 1,000 cases since May 28, with a record 1,774 infections on June 19.

John Nkengasong, director of Africa CDC, on Friday urged the African continent to brace itself for a rise in the number of cases after easing of lockdowns. He noted that the onset of the pandemic was delayed in Africa but the number of cases and deaths “is increasing rapidly every day.”

Russia has confirmed 6,719 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising its total number of infections to 641,156, its coronavirus response center said in a statement on Monday.

The death toll grew by 93 to 9,166, while 403,430 people have so far recovered, including 4,343 over the last 24 hours, according to the statement.

Moscow, the country’s worst-hit region, reported 782 new cases in the past day, taking its tally of infections to 220,853.

India’s federal health ministry said Monday morning that 380 new deaths due to COVID-19, besides 19,459 more positive cases, were reported across the country, taking the number of deaths to 16,475 and total cases to 548,318.

According to officials, 321,723 people have so far been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

“The number of active cases in the country right now is 210,120,” reads the health ministry’s information.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with chief ministers of all states via video conference on June 16 and June 17 to chalk out the strategy to help the country come out of the coronavirus lockdown.

Source: Xinhua