Paris (AFP)
The new coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 459,976 people worldwide since China officially reported the disease in December, according to reports by AFP from official sources at 11:00 GMT on Saturday.
More than 8,680,640 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed in 196 countries and territories since the start of the epidemic, of which at least 4,029,700 are now considered cured.
However, this number of diagnosed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections. Some countries only test severe cases, others use testing as a priority for tracing, and many poor countries have limited screening capacity.
The United States, which recorded its first death linked to the coronavirus in early February, is the country most affected in terms of number of deaths and cases, with 119,131 deaths for 2,222,576 cases. At least 606,715 people were declared cured.
After the United States, the most affected countries are Brazil with 48,954 deaths for 1,032,913 cases, the United Kingdom with 42,461 deaths (301,815 cases), Italy with 34,561 deaths (238,011 cases) and France with 29,617 dead (195,953 cases).
China (excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macao) officially counted a total of 83,352 cases (27 new between Friday and Saturday), including 4,634 deaths (0 new), and 78,410 recoveries.
Europe totaled Saturday at 11:00 GMT 192,158 deaths for 2,500,091 cases, the United States and Canada 127,518 deaths (2,323,141 cases), Latin America and the Caribbean 91,377 deaths (1,959,837 cases), the Asia 28,022 deaths (980,592 cases), the Middle East 13,109 deaths (621,260 cases), Africa 7,661 deaths (286,882 cases), and Oceania 131 deaths (8,846 cases).
This assessment was carried out using data collected by AFP offices from the competent national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO).
© 2020 AFP