Coronavirus: Uzbekistan doctor dies after attempting self-treatment

A 39-year-old doctor from Uzbekistan has died after reportedly attempting self-treatment following coronavirus contraction. According to the health ministry of Uzbekistan, the doctor kept secret about the virus contraction and died after unsuccessfully trying to treat himself. The health ministry statement said that the doctor had been in close contact with the first coronavirus patient in the country and may have caught the disease while treating him. 

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The doctor was admitted to a hospital on March 26 and on March 28 he became the second person in the former Soviet republic to die of coronavirus. According to data by worldometer, Uzbekistan has so far recorded 133 coronavirus cases, of which 29 came in the last 24 hours. The Central Asian country has placed all its provinces under lockdown and has barred its citizens from leaving homes except for work or essential shopping.

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Coronavirus outbreak

COVID-19 has claimed more than 30,800 lives across the world and has infected more than 6,64,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last week before Italy and Spain surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally. 

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The United States, France and Iran have logged in more than 2,000 deaths each with a combined tally of 7,060 as of March 28. The United Kingdom has become the seventh country to cross the 1,000 benchmark in terms of the number of deaths recorded in the country due to the virus outbreak. Experts believe that the coronavirus outbreak could easily claim over 1.8 million lives globally by the end of this year. The COVID-19 pandemic is being termed as the worst disease outbreak the world has ever seen in recorded history. 

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Lead Image Credit: AP