9 lakh COVID-19 cases confirmed worldwide, only 100 cases were reported till Jan 19

Washington: In a staggering hike, the number of 'confirmed' coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the world crossed nine lakh on Wednesday at around 11:30 PM, with the Coronavirus Resource Center at the John Hopkins University putting the total number of confirmed cases worldwide at 932,605 on Thursday at 7:30 AM.

It is worth noting that it just took a little over 24 hours for the number of global cases to jump from eight lakh to nine lakh. As statistics display on Thursday, the number of positive COVID-19 in the US has now crossed two lakh, the exact number being 213,372, while the tally crossed one lakh in and Spain and Italy the last evening as well. As of now, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Spain and Italy stand at 1,04,118, and 1,10,574 respectively.

The global death toll stands at 46,809, according to the university resource center, with the most number of deaths yet in Italy (13,155 deaths) followed by Spain (9,387 deaths) and France (4,032 deaths).

The situation in the United Kingdom, too, continued to worsen as 4,324 new cases and 563 new deaths were reported in the country in the past 24 hours, including two teenagers, a 13-year-old boy, and a 19-year-old man, according to the UK government data. The number of positive COVID-19 cases in the UK stands at 29,865 with 2,352 total deaths from the virus.

India, too, witnessed the maximum number of coronavirus COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours (March 31 midnight to April 1 midnight) with 437 new infections reported from different parts of the country taking the total to 1834 with 41 deaths, according to the latest government update.

Efforts to trace hundreds of invitees to the Nizamuddin Nizamuddin Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in New Delhi, which is emerging as one of the coronavirus hotspots in India, continued as a nationwide hunt across states have identified more than 6,000 people who attended the congregation. According to the ministry officials, cases have increased largely due to Tablighi Jamaat congregation, which took place in mid-March, and therefore technically it does not show a national trend. They urged people to follow guidelines during the lockdown period and avoid congregations, including religious gatherings.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi were among the places to report a large number of new cases.

Prime Minister Narendra will also hold a video conference with all chief ministers on Thursday during which issues such as ways to contain the spread of COVID-19, movement of migrants and contact tracing of Tablighi Jamat participants are likely to come up for discussion, sources said.

China, where the outbreak was first reported, is now fourth in terms of the number of cases (82,361 cases) as well as when it comes to the death toll (3,193 deaths).