The total deaths due to infection with the Coronavirus around the world today, Monday, crossed the threshold of two million and 600 thousand, since the WHO office in China reported the outbreak of the disease at the end of December 2019.

The United States topped the list of countries in the world in Corona deaths, with 537,838 deaths, followed by Brazil with 265 thousand and 500, then Mexico with 190,604.

The data of the "worldometers" website, which specializes in monitoring virus statistics, showed that the total number of virus infections around the world reached 117 million 496 thousand and 17.

While the number of people recovering from Corona reached 93 million, 6 thousand and 814, according to the same source.

The worst tourist year

In a related context, the United Nations World Tourism Organization said, "The past year was the worst year in the history of tourism."

The Madrid-based organization confirmed that a third of the world's destinations are currently completely closed to foreign tourists, especially in Asia and Europe.

And at the beginning of last February, 69 of the 217 destinations in the world were closed;

This is equivalent to 32%, completely in front of foreign tourists, including 30 in Asia and the Pacific, 15 in Europe and 11 in Africa.

This percentage decreased in view of the peak of border closures recorded in May 2020, when 75% of destinations worldwide were completely closed, but it is higher than the average of November 2020, when only 27% of destinations were closed.

The World Tourism Organization indicated that there is a more accurate approach based on evidence and risks related to travel measures, such as requiring travelers to present a test result confirming that they are not infected with the epidemic upon arrival.

Iraq extends the curfew

In the Arab world, the Iraqi government decided today, Monday, to extend the partial curfew imposed since last month for another two weeks.

To reduce the outbreak of the Corona virus.

The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers said that "it was decided to extend the procedures for a comprehensive curfew on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and partial from eight in the evening local time until five in the morning for the rest of the week."

She added that the extension will take effect from tomorrow, Tuesday, until March 22, with an emphasis on health teams and security forces to follow up the measures taken and hold violators accountable severely.

She indicated that the extension decision comes due to indicators that predict the risk of an increase in injuries and severe and critical cases, as the current epidemiological data of Corona disease indicates an increase in the number of injuries and hospitalizations.

Over the past four months, the rate of daily infections in Corona was about 1500;

But over the past few weeks it has risen to more than 3,000.

There are fears of the collapse of the health system, given that the country has limited infrastructure in this sector, due to decades of wars, corruption and instability, according to observers.

As of Sunday evening, the total number of Corona injuries in Iraq reached 726,548, including 13,572 deaths, and 660,541 recoveries.