(Paris) The COVID-19 pandemic has killed at least 5,193,392 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 Sunday at 6 a.m.
More than 260,448,580 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed since the start of the epidemic.
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 severe or asymptomatic cases also remain undetected despite the intensification of screening in many countries.
On the day of Saturday, 6,192 deaths and 482,861 new cases were recorded worldwide.
The countries that have recorded the most new deaths in their latest reports are Russia with 1,224 dead, India (621, a daily toll including an upward revision of official data) and Ukraine (400).
The United States is the most affected country in terms of both deaths and cases, with 776,537 deaths for 48,202,506 recorded cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University count. After the United States, the most affected countries are Brazil with 614,186 deaths and 22,076,863 cases, India with 468,554 deaths (34,572,523 cases), Mexico with 293,859 deaths (3,882,792 cases) , and Russia with 272,755 deaths (9,570,373 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 (403), Bosnia (380), Montenegro (363), North Macedonia (361), Hungary (351) and the Czech Republic (307).
Latin America and the Caribbean totaled 1,539,386 deaths on Sunday morning for 46,625,559 cases, Europe 1,511,949 deaths (83,496,736 cases), Asia 895,994 deaths (57,122,769 cases), the United States United and Canada 806,165 deaths (49,986,856 cases), Africa 222,486 deaths (8,633,429 cases), the Middle East 214,141 deaths (14,278,152 cases), and Oceania 3,271 deaths (305,082 case).
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 authorities or late releases of data, the 24-hour increase figures may not exactly match those published the day before.