GENEVA/New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that roughly 1 in 10 people may have been infected with the novel Coronavirus, leaving the vast majority of the world's population vulnerable to the related COVID-19 disease.
Mike Ryan, the WHO's top emergency expert, told the agency's Executive Board that outbreaks were surging in parts of southeast Asia and that cases and deaths were on the rise in parts of Europe and the eastern Mediterranean region.
"Our current best estimates tell us about 10% of the global population may have been infected by this virus. It varies depending on country, it varies from urban to rural, it varies depending on groups. But what it does mean is that the vast majority of the world remains at risk," Ryan said. "We are now heading into a difficult period. The disease continues to spread." The WHO has submitted a list of experts to take part in an international mission to China to investigate the origin of Coronavirus, for consideration by Chinese authorities, he said.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 caseload went past 66 lakh, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 55,86,703, pushing the recovery rate to 84.34 per cent on Monday.
The total Coronavirus cases mounted to 66,23,815 with 74,442 people testing positive for the infection in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,02,685 with the virus claiming 903 lives in a span of 24 hours, the data updated by Union Health Ministry at 8 am showed.
There are 9,34,427 active cases of the Coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 14.11 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. COVID-19 case fatality was recorded at 1.55 per cent. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16 and crossed 60 lakh on September 28.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 7,99,82,394 samples have been tested up to October 4 with 9,89,860 samples being tested on Sunday.
The 903 new fatalities include 326 from Maharashtra, 67 from Karnataka, 66 from Tamil Nadu, 62 from West Bengal, 52 from Uttar Pradesh, 41 from Punjab, 40 from Andhra Pradesh, 38 from Delhi and 35 from Madhya Pradesh. The total 1,02,685 deaths reported so far in the country includes 38,084 from Maharashtra followed by 9,784 from Tamil Nadu, 9,286 from Karnataka, 6,029 from Uttar Pradesh, 5,981 from Andhra Pradesh, 5,510 from Delhi, 5,194 from West Bengal, 3,603 from Punjab and 3,496 from Gujarat.