There are now 201,436 people infected with COVID-19 as of March 18 as the pandemic continues to claim victims worldwide. As more countries scramble to prevent the virus from claiming lives, Wuhan in China which was the epicenter of the virus since December saw no new cases of infections on the same day.
This has been the first time that Wuhan reported no new cases since the outbreak ravages Hubei province late last year. Health experts are now anticipating for coronavirus to dry up by mid-to-late March, at least in Wuhan. Lockdown and other preventive measures implemented in the region may be lifted if Wuhan continue to record no new cases in 14 days.
Still, officials will not be complacent in guarding the country for possible comeback of the virus through travelers from other countries. Indeed, the National Health Commission reported 34 new cases on Wednesday. All of the patients have travel histories from other countries.
While countries are worried over mounting deaths due to COVID-19, Johns Hopkins University would like people to also notice the other side of the coin. As of Wednesday morning, there are 82,091 people worldwide who have recovered from the virus.
China has the majority of all the recoveries at 69,755. Next is Iran with 5,389 recovered patients of the 17,362 infected people.
Even Italy, the hardest-hit country outside China, there are 2,941 people who have recovered. In Spain, 1,081 people were treated out of the 13,910 infected.
Of another slightly good news is the less number of countries reporting first cases as of Wednesday night. According to the latest situation reports released by the World Health Organization, only Montenegro confirmed its first cases within the past 24 hours, compared to nine countries on March 17. The two patients in Montenegro came from the United States and Spain.
Meanwhile, here is the total number of cases, new cases, and total deaths as of March 18 across different regions of the world:
Western Pacific Region 91 845 confirmed (new 312) 3357 deaths (new 23)
European Region 74 760 confirmed (new 10 911) 3352 deaths (new 604)
South-East Asia Region 538 confirmed (new 63) 9 deaths (new 1)
Eastern Mediterranean Region 18 060 confirmed (new 1552) 1010 deaths (new140)
Regions of the Americas 4979 confirmed (new 2243) 68 deaths (new 18)
African Region 233 confirmed (new 42) 4 deaths (0)
China still has the highest record of infection in a single nation at 81,116 as of March 18. Total deaths in the country are at 3,231. Hubei accounted for 3,130 deaths also accounting for more than a third of deaths outside China which is currently at 7,807.
