The novel coronavirus first detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019 has now infected 4,101,699 people worldwide as of May 10, according to the real-time data tracker from Johns Hopkins University. Of that, 50% of cases are currently active, meaning the patients are still under medical care or strict quarantine measures.
Meanwhile, separate data from the World Health Organization showed that 61,578 new cases and 8,499 new deaths worldwide were reported in the past 24 hours.
On the other hand, 1.38 million people recovered while 281,709 died of the virus. To date, 2.4 million are still fighting the virus as we speak.
The United States still has the highest cases and fatalities recorded in the world. The country has 79,526 deaths as of May 11. About 30% of those deaths occurred in New York.
Next to the US, European countries reported the largest number of deaths while Brazil and Iran joined in countries with more than 6,000 deaths.
31,930 deaths United Kingdom
30,560 deaths Italy
26,621 deaths Spain
26,383 deaths France
11,123 deaths Brazil
8,656 deaths Belgium
7,569 deaths Germany
6,640 deaths Iran
The hardest-hit country in Europe, however, have started to lift their strict lockdown measures in place.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday employees whose nature of work won't allow work-from-home set up should go back to their jobs. He, however, encouraged workers to avoid public transportation if they can. The U.K. primary schools could open from June 1 while the hospitality sector could resume in July. Nationwide, the UK government imposed a new five-tier alert system for biosecurity threats, similar to the ones it has for terror threats.
In France, strict confinement measures have also been lifted starting May 11. The government will then observe if the economy can be fully open moving forward. The announcement regarding this will be made by June 1. In the meantime, France is divided into green and red zones. Green zones - parks, gardens, museums, libraries, forests - are where restrictions will be fully lifted. Red zones are where strict lockdown will still continue. Those who will travel from the EU, the Schengen zone, and the U.K. will be required to submit an international travel certificate before allowed entry to France.
Germany, meanwhile, is now experiencing a rise in coronavirus cases after it eased lockdown measures. With that, more than 130 people were arrested after staging a protest to rally against the easing of lockdown. People are fighting for the lockdown to stay in place up until the government is sure that the situation is truly under control.
In Spain, the local government imposed a four-step plan in easing lockdown. For instance, in Phase 1, only up to 10 people will be allowed to gather together. People in the province will also be allowed to move around. Also in Phase 1, people in Canary and Balearic islands will be allowed to go to bars, restaurants, and shops in a limited capacity. On the other hand, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Granada will remain in Phase 0 or still under strict lockdown.
In Brazil, apart from the lack of leadership seen in President Jair Bolsonaro. Concerns are now high for the worst-hit Amazon region. Officials are suspecting the actual number of cases is actually triple the reported number. The discrepancy arises in the lack of mass testing in the region.
