Deaths of people infected with the novel coronavirus worldwide crossed the 10,000-mark on Friday.
According to Microsoft COVID-19 Tracker, total confirmed cases stand at 244,7238 globally, including 10,035 deaths. Though the highest number of people infected with the disease are in China, the most deaths have occurred in Italy, where alone 3,405 fatalities have been recorded.
India seems to have so far averted the worst of this outbreak, though critics say the low testing rate compared to the vast national population could be suppressing the extent of coronavirus’s spread in the country. The union ministry of health and family welfare has confirmed 171 active cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as of Friday morning. Apart from these patients, four people have died due to the infection in India, while nineteen people have recovered.
The administration of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) has confirmed that four people have tested positive for the coronavirus. Three of them are in the Jammu division, while the last one is an elderly woman who lives in Srinagar and returned recently from a religious trip to Saudi Arabia. Over a thousand people are under quarantine or surveillance.
Clinical trials are underway in Europe, China, and the US as scientists ramp up their efforts to test possible vaccines against the virus, which is believed to have emerged in a wet animal market in China’s Wuhan region.