COVID-19 has now killed over 302-thousand people worldwide. Cases are surging in the U.S. and some European countries... and the WHO says it could take 4 to 5 years to contain the virus. Oh Jung-hee reports. The global COVID-19 death toll surpassed 300-thousand on Thursday. According to Worldometer, the number of confirmed cases around the world now tops 4-point-5 million. 302-thousand people have died and almost 1-point-7 million people have recovered. The U.S. and UK have the largest number of reported deaths, with 86-thousand and 33-thousand, respectively, followed by Italy, Spain and France. One-thousand-3-hundred new deaths were reported in the U.S. on Thursday and over 400 in UK and Brazil. The virus is rapidly spreading in Russia -- confirmed cases spiked by almost 10-thousand in a single day on Thursday. Italy also saw the biggest rise of cases and deaths in the past seven days. COVID-19's fatality rate in Italy stands at 14-percent. On the African continent, total cases have topped 70-thousand... and nearly 25-hundred people have died.
The World Health Organization predicts it will take 4 to 5 years to contain the novel coronavirus. A chief scientist from the UN agency, Soumya Swaminathan, told the Financial Times... that a vaccine would be the "best way out" but there are lots of "ifs and buts" about its safety, production and distribution. She added... if the virus continues to mutate, then a vaccine may not be successful. Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
