Four new countries joined the growing list of countries confirming their first cases of COVID-19 infection in the past 24 hours (March 11-12). As of Thursday night, French Polynesia, Turkey, Honduras, and Côte d'Ivoire confirmed their first cases.
125,048 people around the world are now infected with the novel coronavirus detected in December 2019, according to the latest data released by the World Health Organization. Of that number, 6,729 were reported in the past 24 hours. A total of 321 new deaths were reported overnight, bringing the total number of fatalities to 4,613.
In China, 80,981 people contracted the virus but the cases have been slowing down since the start of March. The Asian country reported only 23 new cases and 11 new deaths to a total of 4,613 overall fatalities.
Outside of China, 117 countries accounted for 44,607 confirmed infections, with 6,703 new cases within the past 24 hours. These countries also accounted for 1,440 total deaths. New deaths overnight are at 310.
French Polynesia confirmed its first case of COVID-19 infection. The patient was identified as Maina Sage, a member of the country's French Nationa Assembly. She returned from Paris this week. Sage has since been placed under home quarantine.
In Turkey, the government has closed schools for one week and universities for three weeks following the country's first confirmed COVID-19 case. All sporting events have also been canceled. The country is the last major economy to report infection since the outbreak struck big economies in December. Another worry is that Turkey is also the world's sixth-largest tourist destination.
Honduras also confirmed its first two cases. The patients are two women aged 42 and 37 respectively. The patients have travel histories in Spain and Switzerland. There were asked to self-quarantine and recent reports said their conditions are now stable.
Côte d'Ivoire has confirmed its first case. The patient is a 45-year-old local but had traveled from Italy to the country. While the patient is showing signs of recovery, all people with known contact with the patient were asked to identify themselves so they can track down all possible carriers.
In his latest speech, World Health Organization director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that countries should not be reluctant in addressing the pandemic. The focus should be on stopping the further spread and not just mere mitigation. Nevertheless, he reiterated that it is a controllable pandemic as long as the governments around the world do what is necessary.
