Coronavirus latest: Global infections surge past three million

The number of coronavirus infections around the world is continuing to rise, now passing three million as the pandemic spreads.

The number of global coronavirus cases has topped three million, according to Johns Hopkins University which tracks infections.

Almost a third of those cases are in the United States, which is fast approaching one million infections.

The new coronavirus, officially COVID-19, was first detected in Wuhan China in December 2019.

It has since been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation and spread to almost every country on the planet.

The disease has been linked to more than 210,000 deaths and caused massive economic disruption.

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Global coronavirus infections pass three million. Picture: Johns Hopkins University

The number of infections worldwide have risen steadily. Picture: Johns Hopkins University

On January 24 there were just 941 cases. That number had jumped to 45,200 on February 12.

By March 28 there were 315,900 cases officially recorded.

The world passed the one million mark on April 2 and two million on April 14 — despite harsh lockdown restrictions being enforced in many countries.

DEATHS, INFECTIONS RISE

The virus may have been first detected in China, but the US is now well and truly the world’s coronavirus epicentre.

More than 983,800 cases have been officially confirmed in the US. There have been more than 17,500 deaths in New York City alone.

The country is also testing widely, with nearly 5.5 million conducted already.

Europe has also been hit hard. Spain has more than 229,000 infections, Italy 199,400, France 162,000 and Germany 158,000.

The UK has 158,000 infections and more than 21,000 deaths.

A health official waits to collect samples from people for COVID-19 testing. Picture: Sam Panthaky/AFP

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has returned to work after recovering from COVID-19.

He warned it was still too dangerous to relax a stringent lockdown wreaking havoc on Britain’s economy for fear of a deadly second outbreak.

World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned at a press conference today the pandemic was far from over.

“(There) continues to be concerns about the increasing trends in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries,” he said.

“As in all regions, cases and deaths are underreported in many countries in these regions, because of low testing capacity.

“This virus will not be defeated if we are not united, if we are not united, the virus will exploit the cracks between us and continue to create havoc. Lives will be lost,” he added.

A doctor takes a sample from man for a COVID-19 test during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown in India. Picture: AFP

OUTBREAK WORSENS IN RUSSIA

Russia surpassed China with its total number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday.

The Russian government reported 87,147 cases on Monday, which is almost 4000 more than China’s official toll of 83,912.

Almost 6200 new infections were registered in the past 24 hours.

The actual number of infections in both countries is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.

Many also believe that governments in both Russia and China could be manipulating the statistics for political purposes.

Russia had been reporting comparatively low numbers of coronavirus cases until April, and the Kremlin insisted the situation was under control.

In mid-April, Russians were supposed to vote for a constitutional reform that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036, and Kremlin critics argued the government was downplaying the crisis ahead of the vote. In late MarchMr Putin postponed the vote indefinitely.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has been growing exponentially since then.

– with wires