Covid-19 update: More than three million deaths worldwide

As of Sunday, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is 1 575 471, with 1 101 new cases recorded since the last report, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced.

23 more deaths were recorded: 7 from Eastern Cape, 7 from Gauteng, 4 from Free State, 4 from KwaZulu-Natal and 1 from Western Cape.

This brings the total number of deaths to 54 148.

“We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the healthcare workers who treated the deceased,” said Mkhize.

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Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

– Record cases in India –

India’s capital New Delhi extends its lockdown as the vast nation of 1.3 billion people registers 349,691 fresh cases and 2,767 deaths — the highest since the start of the pandemic.

The northern megacity — home to 20 million people and the worst-hit in India — extends its lockdown by a week.

– EU mobilising to help India –

The European Union will provide help to India as it fights record numbers of deaths and cases, the Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen pledges Sunday.

The bloc is pooling resources using the EU civil protection mechanism for a rapid response, she writes on Twitter.

– UK, US send aid to India –

Britain and the United States also join international aid efforts for India, announcing they are sending much-needed medical equipment.

– Deadly fire at Iraq Covid hospital –

At least 82 people have died and 110 are wounded in a Baghdad Covid-19 hospital fire overnight Sunday, the Iraqi interior ministry announces.

Many of the victims were on respirators when the blaze at Baghdad’s Ibn al-Khatib hospital started with an explosion caused by “a fault in the storage of oxygen cylinders”, medical sources tell AFP.

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– Italy bans India arrivals –

Italy becomes the latest country to ban arrivals from India, apart from Italian residents, Health Minister Roberto Speranza announces.

Anyone already in Italy who has been in India in the past 14 days should contact health authorities, he says.

– Greece detects Indian variant –

Greece becomes the latest European nation to detect a case of the Covid-19 variant that has helped drive an explosion in infections in India, authorities announce.

– Brazil hits record monthly death toll –

Brazil records 67,977 deaths so far in April, the health ministry says, making it the deadliest month yet before it ends, topping March’s 66,573 fatalities.

– Greece deaths pass 10,000 –

The coronavirus death toll passed 10,000 according to data released Sunday by the country’s national health authority.

– Fashion designer dies –

Former Lanvin creative director Alber Elbaz, credited with turning the luxury brand around during his 2001-15 tenure, has died of coronavirus, Swiss luxury group Richemont says.

– Peru issues double-mask order –

Pero orders the use of two masks at the same time from Monday when inside shops and other places where there are a lot of people, responding to a spike in Covid-19 deaths and infections.

– More than three million deaths worldwide –

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 3,102,837 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1800 GMT on Sunday.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 571,988 deaths, followed by Brazil with 389,492 deaths; Mexico with 214,853 deaths; India with 192,311 deaths; and the United Kingdom with 127,428 deaths.