Coronavirus COVID-19 cases rise to 21.5 lakh globally; death toll in Italy climbs above 22,000

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit the life of people across the globe, the total number of cases across 185 nations reached 2,153,620 and the death toll stood at 143,844 at 07.00 am (IST) on Friday.

The US continues to record the highest number of cases at 667,801, followed by Spain at 184,948, Italy at 168,941, Germany at 137,698, and France at 147,091. With a massive jump, US has witnessed the highest death toll across all the nations at 32,917, followed by Italy at 22,170, Spain at 19,315, France at 17,941 and the UK at 13,759.

Italy, where the coronavirus has claimed 22,170 lives, is keeping the lockdown largely in place although it lifted restrictions on two categories of shops - stationers and children's clothes - on April 14. A group of doctors and other scientists in Bologna are testing new surgical masks to ensure they meet EU safety standards, hoping to get them faster to medical workers fighting coronavirus. A group of professionals at the University of Bologna's Policlinico di Sant'Orsola hospital is working around the clock to test and validate the surgical mask prototypes to European safety standards. 

As per the PTI report, the International Monetary Fund expects Italy's total output to shrink by 9.1 percent this year - the worst peacetime decline in nearly a century. Most European governments are approaching their lockdown exits with extreme caution.

In Spain, construction and manufacturing sectors returned to work on April 13, but the government has said the nationwide confinement in force until April 26 would likely last until May.

France plan to extend current measures and President Emmanuel Macron said schools and shops would gradually re-open from May 11, but restaurants, hotels, cafes and cinemas would remain shut for longer. 

Britain on Thursday extended its nationwide lockdown for at least another three weeks on Thursday, as stand-in leader Dominic Raab ordered Britons to stay at home to prevent the spread of a coronavirus outbreak. 

Out of the 2.1 million recorded infections globally, nearly half of which are in Europe making it the hardest hit continent in the world.