India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI, MARCH 20 –  New cases of the novel coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late December are being reported daily around the world. At least 10,000 people globally have died from COVID-19, as the illness is officially known, while more than 145,000 infections have been confirmed in at least 158 countries and territories, according to the World Health Organization. Italy has is now ahead of China as the country with the most deaths from the pandemic reports TRT World.

The number of infections and deaths in the rest of the world has surpassed those in China, which appears to have staunched the virus with strict measures including a complete quarantine of Wuhan since January. The coronavirus toll in Spain rose to 1,002 on Friday following the deaths of 235 people in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said. 

Iran has announced 149 more fatalities from the new coronavirus, bringing its death toll to 1,433 amid nearly 20,000 confirmed cases. 

Iran is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East and has been widely criticized for its slow response. The country's leaders struck an upbeat tone earlier Friday, issuing messages in honour of the Persian new year in which they vowed to overcome the pandemic.

Malaysia reported 130 new infections on Friday, taking its total to 1,030, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of those across Southeast Asia. France is only at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis and is in a race to curb its progress, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday. Mosques in Sri Lanka were shut indefinitely from Friday, and the island is set to impose a countrywide curfew over the weekend, as South Asian countries step up efforts to check the spread of COVID-19 cases.