Coronavirus-related deaths surpass 25,000 globally

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - The global death toll from the novel coronavirus climbed over 25,000 on Friday, according to figures compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

The virus known as COVID-19, which emerged in Wuhan, China last December, has spread to at least 176 countries and regions around the globe, while a total of 25,035 people have died, and confirmed cases hit 553,244.

In all, 127,567 people diagnosed with the virus have recovered from the disease.

Italy, Spain, China and Iran continue to be the most affected countries, but the U.S. became the country where most coronavirus-related cases have been seen with more than 86,000 cases. The U.S. has now 1,301 fatalities from the epidemic.

Italy recorded the most deaths with 8,215 fatalities with nearly 80,600 cases, while Spain has 4,858 deaths in confirmed cases of over 64,000. China, the ground zero of the virus, followed Spain with 3,296 deaths, while its confirmed cases neared 82,000.

Meanwhile, the death toll is 2,378 in Iran as confirmed cases surpassed 32,300.

Many countries have restricted flights from the most affected places and implemented lockdowns as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic and Europe the new epicenter of the outbreak.

The Johns Hopkins figures far exceed official tallies compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that are updated daily, but only for cases reported by 4.00 p.m. local time (2000GMT) the preceding day.