Morning Briefing - April 2, 2020

ANKARA (AA) – Here is Anadolu Agency’s rundown of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in Turkey and across the world.

The novel coronavirus continues rapidly spreading around the world. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally is now over 937,000, while over 47,000 people have died and over 194,000 have made recoveries.

Turkey on Wednesday confirmed 63 more deaths and 2,148 new cases, bringing the death toll to 277 and the total of cases to 15,679.

All 81 provinces in Turkey have registered coronavirus cases, but with fatalities in only 39 provinces, while nearly 80% of fatalities from coronavirus in Turkey took place among people over 60 years old.

A Turkish military aircraft carrying medical aid arrived on Wednesday in Spain, one of the countries in Europe worst hit by the virus, while another plane carrying medical aid landed in Italy, where coronavirus has caused record fatalities.

Although Italy, one of world's worst-hit countries, reported 727 new deaths due to COVID-19, the number of fatalities and new cases now being reported are lower than in recent weeks.

As for other European heavyweights, the death toll in Germany climbed to 815 with 128 new deaths, the highest daily toll there since the beginning of the outbreak, while Spain saw 864 deaths, bringing the toll to over 9,053.

The death toll in France surged to 4,032 with an additional 509 cases.

Coronavirus tallies rose in 10 Arab countries, including Kuwait, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, and Qatar.

South Africa is mourning the death of Gita Ramjee, a globally recognized scientist who lost her life to coronavirus. She was 64.

The U.S. is launching operations in the Western Hemisphere to prevent drug cartels from exploiting the coronavirus pandemic, the nation's president said Wednesday.

Nour Hassan Hussein Nour Adde, a former Somali prime minister, has died of coronavirus in Britain, his family said on Wednesday.

The global economy could shrink 0.9% this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) said on Wednesday.

The UN weather body on Wednesday expressed concern over the potential impact of the coronavirus pandemic on weather observations, as much of its data comes from commercial airlines whose flights have dramatically declined in much of the world.