
(TibetanReview.net, Mar29’20) – The number of people infected by the Covid-19 pandemic unleashed by China both on itself and the rest of the world through suppression of information and repression of whistle-blowers during the initial phase of its outbreak in the city of Wuhan in late 2019 has now totalled 669,312, with 142,100 recoveries and 30,982 deaths, according to latest figures from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University detailed on its website coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html at 16:00PM IST on Mar 29.
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In India, the total number of infections has risen to 979, with the number of those Cured/Discharged/Migrated being 87 and the number of deaths 25 as of 10 AM on Mar 29, according to data compiled by India’s Ministry of Health & Family Welfare posted on its website mohfw.gov.in. There have been reports of more infections during the day, with one report saying the total was now close to 1,000.
Maharashtra is the worst hit with 183 infections and 6 deaths, followed by Kerala with 174 infections and one death, and Karnataka with 76 cases and 3 deaths. India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh had 54 infections but no death.
Other relatively badly hit states included Telangana, 56 (1); Gujarat 52 (4); Delhi 38 (2); Punjab (38 (1); Tamil Nadu, 36 (1); Jammu & Kashmir 31 (1); Madhya Pradesh, 30 (2); Haryana 19 (0); West Bengal 17 (1); Andhra Pradesh, 14 (0); and Ladakh, 13 (0).
Besides, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Puducherry, and Uttarakhand have 9 or less cases. Besides, Bihar and HP also had one death each.
On Mar 28, the government rejected a suggestion that India had entered Stage 3 of the Covid-19 pandemic’s spread. This refers to community transmission of the disease which is much more difficult to control. It becomes difficult to trace the original source of a transmission and as a result the number of cases rises exponentially.
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Across the world, the countries with the most number of infections were reported to be 124,686 US; 92,472 Italy; 82,061 China; 73,235 Spain; 58,247 Germany; 38,105 France; 35,408 Iran; 17,315 United Kingdom; 14,076 Switzerland; 10,836 Belgium; 9,819 Netherlands; 9,583 Korea, South; 8,395 Austria; 7,402 Turkey; 5,655 Canada; 5,170 Portugal; 4,043 Norway; 3,980 Australia; 3,904 Brazil; 3,865 Israel; 3,447 Sweden; 2,669 Czechia (Czech Republic); 2,470 Malaysia; 2,415 Ireland; 2,370 Denmark; 1,909 Chile; 1,831 Luxembourg; 1,823 Ecuador; 1,717 Poland; 1,693 Japan; 1,534 Russia; 1,526 Pakistan; 1,452 Romania; 1,418 Philippines; 1,388 Thailand; 1,285 Indonesia; 1,221 Finland; 1,203 Saudi Arabia; 1,187 South Africa; and 1,061 Greece.
Other countries with 100 or more infections were reported to be 987 India; 963 Iceland; 901 Panama; 848 Mexico; 802 Singapore; 745 Argentina; 719 Dominican Republic; 712 Diamond Princess; 684 Slovenia; 679 Estonia; 671 Peru; 659 Serbia; 657 Croatia; 608 Colombia; 590 Qatar; 576 Egypt; 514 New Zealand; 506 Iraq; 476 Bahrain; 468 United Arab Emirates; 454 Algeria; 437 Lithuania; 437 Morocco; 424 Armenia; 418 Ukraine; 412 Lebanon; 408 Hungary; 347 Latvia; 338 Bulgaria; 308 Andorra; 304 Uruguay; 298 Taiwan*; 295 Costa Rica; 292 Slovakia; 278 Bosnia and Herzegovina; 278 Tunisia; 251 Kazakhstan; 246 Jordan; 241 North Macedonia; 235 Kuwait; 231 Moldova; 224 San Marino; 207 Burkina Faso; 197 Albania; 182 Azerbaijan; 179 Cyprus; 179 Vietnam; 167 Oman; 149 Malta; 141 Ghana; 133 Uzbekistan; 130 Senegal; 120 Brunei; 119 Cuba; 119 Venezuela; 115 Sri Lanka; 110 Afghanistan; 110 Honduras; 104 West Bank and Gaza; 103 Cambodia; 102 Mauritius; and 101 Cote d’Ivoire.
Concerning the countries or cities with 100 or more deaths, the figures were shown to be 10,023 Italy; 6,528 Spain; 3,182 Hubei China 2,640; Iran; 2,314 France; 1,019 United Kingdom; 672 New York City; 639 Netherlands; 455 Germany; 431 Belgium; 282; Switzerland; 152 Korea, South; 136 King Washington US; 114; Brazil; 114 Indonesia; 108 Turkey; 105 Sweden; and 100 Portugal.
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In China, the National Health Commission has said Mar 29 that the mainland had one domestically transmitted new infection on Mar 28, but 54 what it called imported additional infections, taking the total of such imports to 693 as of Mar 28-end. Five were reported to have died on Mar 28.
Mainland China also reported 28 new suspected cases, taking the total of such cases to 174.
Of the mainland’s total reported confirmed cases of 81,439 as of Mar 28-end, 2,691 were still being treated, 75,448 had been discharged after recovery, and 3,300 had died of the disease, reported the official chinadaily.com.cn Mar 29.
The total of number of severe cases was reported to be 742, a decline by 179 over the previous day’s total.
Meanwhile, questions have been raised about the true extent of the total of infections and deaths reported by China. Reports spoke about China having lost 15 million cellphone users and 21 million cell phones during the period of the pandemic’s spread, which are seen as indicators towards the true scale of loss of lives to the novel coronavirus.
Previous reports on eyewitness accounts of cremations in Wuhan had also raised doubts about the smallness of the number of deaths reported by the Chinese government.