Global coronavirus cases top 1.5 million – AFP tally

According to AFP data, the number of Covid-19 cases now tops 1.5 million around the world.

The disease, which was first recorded in Wuhan, China, began rapidly spreading across the globe in February.

The epicenter on the pandemic has shifted to the US in recent weeks, where more than 432,000 have tested positive for Covid-19 and over 14,000 people have died. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered flags to be flown at half-mast after 779 new deaths were reported on Wednesday.

Spain, Italy, France, and Germany remain the hardest hit countries in Europe, each having more than 80,000 confirmed cases. Nations like Spain and Germany saw a slight decrease in the daily number of newly reported cases earlier this month. However, these numbers have recently started to surge again.

China, meanwhile, appears to have flattened the curve on the infection rate as the number of newly recorded cases has dropped dramatically. Overall, 81,865 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in China as of Wednesday, while most new cases are people returning from trips abroad, health officials say. As a sign that the situation is improving, the months-long quarantine was lifted in Wuhan earlier this week.

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