[Asia Economy Reporters Choi Dae-yeol and Kim Heung-soon] On the 3rd (Korean time), the total number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) worldwide surpassed 1 million. It has been 94 days since 27 patients with pneumonia of unknown cause were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China on December 31 last year. The number of confirmed cases in South Korea exceeded 10,000. It has been 74 days since the first domestic case was reported on January 20.
According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 10 a.m. on that day, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases confirmed in 181 countries worldwide was 1,014,759. The international statistics site "Worldometer" reported that a cumulative total of 1,015,145 cases occurred in 204 countries worldwide. The total number of confirmed cases more than doubled within a week after surpassing 500,000 on the 27th of last month. It took only one day to increase from 900,000 to 1 million. The British BBC reported, "The 1 million cases counted by Johns Hopkins University only recorded confirmed cases, and the actual number of patients is likely much higher."
According to Johns Hopkins University statistics, the country with the highest number of confirmed cases worldwide is the United States, with 244,678 infections. Italy (115,242 cases) and Spain (112,065 cases) also exceeded 100,000. Following them were Germany (84,794 cases), China (82,433 cases), France (59,929 cases), Iran (50,468 cases), the United Kingdom (34,173 cases), Switzerland (18,827 cases), Turkey (18,135 cases), Belgium (15,348 cases), the Netherlands (14,788 cases), Canada (11,284 cases), and Austria (11,129 cases).
In South Korea, the cumulative number of confirmed cases as of midnight on that day was 10,062, ranking 15th worldwide to surpass 10,000 cases. Domestically, a cluster infection occurred centered on the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, and after surpassing 1,000 confirmed cases on February 26, the number of patients rapidly increased by about 1,000 every day or two. However, since surpassing 8,000 cumulative cases on the 14th of last month, the speed of new confirmed cases has clearly slowed. It took ten days to exceed 9,000 on the 24th of last month, and another ten days for the number to increase by about 1,000 again.
Worldwide, the total number of deaths from COVID-19 confirmed cases is 52,973 so far. Italy had the highest number of casualties with 13,915 deaths. Spain (10,348), the United States (5,911), and France (5,398) also reported more than 5,000 deaths. The cumulative number of deaths in South Korea was reported as 175 as of 11 a.m. on that day.
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