Declared coronavirus cases top seven million globally

Declared coronavirus infections topped seven million globally, some two-thirds in Europe and the United States, according to an AFP tally of official figures at 0700 GMT Monday.

At least 7,003,851 cases have been officially recorded around the world, including 402,867 deaths, and Europe is the hardest-hit continent with 2,275,305 cases and 183,542 deaths. The United States has recorded 1,942,363 cases and 110,514 deaths since the outbreak first emerged in China late last year.

The number of cases reported globally has doubled in just over a month, and more than one million cases of COVID-19 have been registered in the past nine days.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), likely reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Though testing in many countries has increased since the outset of the outbreak, many nations are still testing only symptomatic or serious cases.

© 2020 AFP