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COVID-19: Global death toll surpasses 600,000, as South Africa now ranks 5th in virus cases worldwide

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COVID-19: Global death toll surpasses 600,000, as South Africa now ranks 5th in virus cases worldwide

Fresh figures provided by the Johns Hopkins University, USA, on Sunday have revealed that the global death toll arising from the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic has hit 601,213.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has reached 14.2 million, of which more than 7.9 million people have recovered from the dreaded virus after receiving treatment.

In a related development, South Africa now ranks fifth in the world for confirmed COVID-19 cases as the African continent faces the pandemic’s first wave head-on, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

South Africa on Saturday reported 13,285 new confirmed cases for a total of 350,879. That puts the country ahead of Peru, and accounts for roughly half the cases in Africa.

READ ALSO: Confirmed covid-19 cases top 14m globally –WHO

Gauteng province, home to Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, is now Africa’s epicentre for the virus. It has one-quarter of the country’s population and many of the poor are crowded in township areas with inadequate access to clean water and sanitation.

This came days after the United States of America set a depressing new daily record for Coronavirus again, with reports of over 77,000 new cases and 969 new deaths according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

The rise is the highest since June 10, and experts warn that cases could soon top 100,000 as states like Texas and Florida have recorded over 12,000 new cases in the last 24 hours.

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