Emergency workers wearing full protective suits transport a patient to an ambulance at the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Leganes, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2020. (Photo by AP)
The number of fatalities from the COVID-19 pandemic has topped 100,000 in Europe, the hardest-hit continent in the world.
The figures released on Saturday turned Spain into the second European country to have over 20,000 deaths after Italy, while fatalities in France and Britain passed 19,000 and 15,000 respectively.
In Spain, the fatalities rose at a slower pace than previous days. The number of infections also continued its downtrend. The Spanish prime minister says he will seek to extend its nationwide lockdown.
The number of daily infections in France doubled compared to a day earlier. However, the country registered new falls in the total number of coronavirus patients in hospitals and intensive care.
The country reported 642 more deaths from COVID-19 in hospitals and nursing homes since Friday. The new deaths -- 364 in hospitals and 278 in nursing homes -- brought the total toll in the country from the epidemic to 19,323, the French health ministry said in a statement.
The UK registered over 55,000 new cases and its death toll jumped to over 15,000. The country has the fifth highest fatality of the pandemic in the world.
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 23,000 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries so far to 175,925, according to the latest data released by the countrys Civil Protection Department on Saturday.
The death toll in the past 24 hours was 482, bringing the total to 23,227 since the pandemic first broke out in the northern Lombardy region on February 21.
There were 809 new active coronavirus infections and 2,200 additional recoveries, bringing the total active infections to 107,771 and recoveries to 44,927, respectively.
While Italy recorded its lowest death toll from COVID-19 since April 12, Turkey recorded another dramatic increase in new cases.
Turkeys health minister has said that the countrys confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 82,329, overtaking neighboring Iran for the first time to register the highest total in the Middle East.
In Romania, the number of healthcare staff infected with COVID-19 increased by 50 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,031, authorities announced.
So far, a total of 8,418 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Romania, according to the Strategic Communication Group, the official coronavirus communication task force, Xinhua reported. The frontline medics account for over 12 percent of the total infections in the country.
The World Health Organization says Europe remains in the eye of the storm and is the worst-hit continent in the world.
SOURCE: PRESS TV
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/16101
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