Global Covid cases top 23 mn
Washington DC: The overall number of global Coronavirus cases has surpassed the 23 million mark, while the deaths have increased to over 803,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
As of Sunday morning, the total number of cases stood at 23,130,345 and the fatalities rose to 803,397, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.
The US accounted for the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 5,666,121 and 176,345, respectively, according to the CSSE.
Brazil came in the second place with 3,582,362 infections and 114,250 deaths.
In terms of cases, India ranks third (2,975,701), and is followed by Russia (949,531), South Africa (607,045), Peru (576,067), Mexico (556,216), Colombia (522,138), Chile (395,708), Spain (386,054), Iran (356,792), Argentina (336,802), the UK (326,559), Saudi Arabia (306,370), Bangladesh (292,625), Pakistan (292,174), France (275,562), Italy (258,136), Turkey (257,032), Germany (233,861), Iraq (201,050), Philippines (187,249), Indonesia (151,498), Canada (126,560), Qatar (116,765), Bolivia (107,435), Ecuador (107,089), Ukraine (105,337), Kazakhstan (104,313) and Israel (101,933), the CSSE figures showed.
The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are the Mexico (60,254), India (55,794), UK (41,509), Italy (35,430), France (30,517), Spain (28,838), Peru (27,245), Iran (20,502), Russia (16,268), Colombia (16,568), South Africa (12,987) and Chile (10,792).
Pakistan's Coronavirus cases on Sunday reached 292,765 after 591 new infections were reported in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said.
Four patients died during the period, taking the number of fatalities in the country to 6,235, according to the Ministry of National Health
Services.
A total of 275,836 people have recovered from the disease and some 696 patients are in critical condition.
The total number of active patients in the country is 10,694, it said.
Sindh registered a maximum of 127,965 cases, followed by Punjab with 96,178, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 35,720, Islamabad, 15,493, Balochistan 12,507, Gilgit-Baltistan 2,657 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 2,245 cases.
So far, 2,439,858 COVID-19 tests have been carried out in the country, including 24,956 in the last 24 hours.
Turkish authorities have introduced stricter nationwide safety controls due to a recent surge in the number of Coronavirus cases.
Public negligence of strict Coronavirus measures, including mandatory mask-wearing and self-isolation for positive patients, is largely blamed for the increasing number in new cases, reports Xinhua news agency.
"Safety measures should be observed without concession. The surge in new cases is the result of negligence of social distancing and mask wearing," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Saturday.
Koca also indicated that a mobile app detected that 95,000 people, who should have been in self-isolation, tried to purchase bus, train or plane tickets, attempting to break quarantine rules.
Since the start of August, the number of daily cases which dropped to around 700 gradually increased, pushing authorities to postpone the opening of schools to September 21 from August 31.
Education Minister Ziya Selcuk announced that the Ministry started to grant certificates that define a series of standards to prevent the further spread of the pandemic in schools.
Following the recommendations of the health officials, local authorities across the country have recently adopted a series of new measures for those over 65 years old, the most significant risk group against the Coronavirus.
Elderly in over 20 provinces, including the capital Ankara, are now prevented from using public transportation in rush hours or entering crowded locations in certain hours of the day.
The Interior Ministry, meanwhile, launched its seventh comprehensive inspections since May to monitor compliance with the Covid-19 rules across the country.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured that the Coronavirus outbreak is under control despite a hike in daily cases but some doctors are worried that official numbers are not showing the real scope of the health crisis.
As of Sunday, the overall number of Coronavirus cases in Turkey stood at 257,032, with 6,102 deaths.
