Italy’s death count from the new coronavirus rose up by 133 to 366 on Sunday while the number of infections went up by a single-day record of 1,492 to reach 7,375. Italy has logged the most deaths of any nation outside China and the second-most COVID-19 infections across globe. The majority of fatalities were in the Lombardy region in northern Italy. The virus was officially named COVID-19 at a conference in Geneva held by the World Health Organization, where the body's chief said countries had a chance of stopping its global spread.
Italy's prime minister announced a far-reaching coronavirus quarantine on Sunday, restricting the actions of about a quarter of the entire population. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a ruling distressing about 16 million people. The unusual measures will be in place until April 3.
My sister lives in Venice, Italy. She sent these photos of the empty streets and canals. City is hit hard due to the #coronavirus. 1/ pic.twitter.com/91rhShXsDt
— 👽™ï¸Â (@ScottTrudell) March 5, 2020
The novel virus reportedly first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has claimed over 3,500 lives globally. In China, the virus has already claimed nearly 3,097 lives with 27 fresh cases reported on Sunday. Near 1 lakh people have now been infected with the COVID-19 strain in the mainland.
In Iran, death toll continued to witness northward trend which included a politician as well. A newly elected MP from Tehran was the second Iranian lawmaker to succumb to the deadly virus, state news agency IRNA reported
Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, served as MP from 2004 to 2016 and was among the top candidates in Tehran for the conservatives, who overwhelmingly won February's general election marked by the lowest turnout in the Islamic republic's history. Seven other politicians and government officials have died in the outbreak since the country reported its first cases in mid-February.
(With Agency Inputs)