Global Covid-19 death toll surpasses 400,000
Washington, Jun 7 (efe-epa).- The number of people who have died of Covid-19 in the world has exceeded 400,000, according to data provided on Sunday by Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Just before 14:30 GMT on Sunday, the number of deaths worldwide reached 400,243, while the number of infected people now exceeds 6.9 million.
According to the university, the US is the country with the most recorded deaths with 109,802, which represents a third of those registered worldwide.
The United Kingdom has the second-largest fatality rate with 40,548, followed by Brazil, with 35,930.
Italy is fourth with 33,846 deaths since the start of the pandemic, and Spain came in fifth with 27,135.
According to Johns Hopkins, the five countries with the highest coronavirus caseloads are the US with 1,920,061 infections, Brazil (672,846), Russia (467,073), the UK (286,295) and India, where at least 247,857 people have contracted the virus.
The Brazil data reported on Sunday came as a surprise after President Jair Bolsonaro’s government stopped publishing a running total of Covid-19 infections and deaths on Saturday.
The move was criticized by many who said the restrictions on data were an attempt to hide the true coronavirus toll in Brazil.
Johns Hopkins University deleted coronavirus data for Brazil from its website although it was restored first thing Sunday morning.
The World Health Organization on Saturday revised its guidelines on the use of face masks saying people over the age of 60 or with existing health issues should wear a medical-grade mask when outside or in situations where social distancing is not possible.
