(Paris) The novel coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 5,206,370 worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December 2019, according to a report established by the AFP from official sources Tuesday at 6 a.m.
Since the start of the epidemic, 261,498,300 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed. The vast majority of patients recover, but a still poorly evaluated part retains symptoms for weeks or even months.
The figures are based on reports communicated daily by the health authorities in each country. They exclude the revisions carried out a posteriori by certain statistical organizations, which conclude with a much higher number of deaths.
The WHO even estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to COVID-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that officially recorded.
A large proportion of the less serious or asymptomatic cases also remain undetected despite the intensification of screening in many countries.
On Monday, 6,566 new deaths and 579,509 new cases were recorded worldwide.
The countries that have recorded the most new deaths in their latest reports are the United States with 1,620 new deaths, Russia (1,229) and Ukraine (561).
The United States is the most affected country in terms of both deaths and cases, with 778,601 deaths for 48,438,037 cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.
After the United States, the most affected countries are Brazil with 614,376 deaths and 22,084,749 cases, India with 468,980 deaths (34,587,822 cases), Mexico with 293,950 deaths (3,884,566 cases) , and Russia with 275,193 deaths (9,636,881 cases).
Among the hardest hit countries, Peru is the one with the highest number of deaths relative to its population, with 610 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Bulgaria (408), Bosnia (383), Montenegro (366), North Macedonia (363), Hungary (357) and the Czech Republic (309).
Latin America and the Caribbean had a total Tuesday at 6 a.m. EST 1,540,093 deaths for 46,657,249 cases, Europe 1,520,177 deaths (84,163,926 cases), Asia 897,402 deaths (57,197,771 cases), the United States and Canada 808,239 deaths (50,225,886 cases), Africa 222,714 deaths (8,644,253 cases), the Middle East 214,464 deaths (14,301,360 cases), and Oceania 3,281 deaths (307,855 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).
Due to corrections made by the authorities or late publication of the data, the 24 hour increase figures may not correspond exactly to those published the day before.