COVID-19: Europe's death toll surpasses 110,000, global toll at 179,839

The death toll from the novel coronavirus in Europe has reportedly surpassed 110,000, according to the AFP tally at 11:00 GMT, making the region one of the hardest-hit from the pandemic. With the global death toll reaching 179,839, Italy has registered 24,648 deaths, while Spain’s count has jumped to 21,717 deaths, followed by the UK with at least 18,100 people dead thus far. 

Spain

Spain recorded another 435 deaths in the past 24 hours, with the figures showing a slight increase for a second day running, bringing the overall death toll to 21,717. Spain has suffered the third-highest number of deaths in the world according to the reports.

Italy

Italy reported the lowest new coronavirus cases with over 2,256 infections since the pandemic hit the region, as per media reports. Italy's civil protection service told a press conference that as many as 107,709 active cases were either being treated at the hospitals or were recovering from mild symptoms back home as the cases declined by 20 from 108,257 reported the day earlier.

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UK could be worst-hit 

However, according to reports, a senior scientific adviser to the UK government, Sir Jeremy Farrar reportedly predicted that the UK could end up being one of the worst-hit European countries in the coronavirus pandemic. He said that the government could not rule out the further wave of the pandemic, by which equation the death toll is expected to go higher. At present, the UK has over 133,400 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. 

With the increasing death toll across the region, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen reportedly said that the elderly population across Europe might have to be kept isolated until the end of the year to protect them from the COVID-19 disease. She further added that until there was a vaccine, the contact with the elderly had to be limited. She further added that it would be challenging to restrict oneself as an elderly person in terms of movement and socializing but it was a matter of life and death. According to reports, Leyen hoped for the vaccine to be developed by the European laboratory towards the end of the year in order to ensure that the older could be vaccinated to avoid contracting the disease. 

(With inputs from agency)

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