Australia: COVID-19 death toll rises to 118

MELBOURNE 

Australia's southern Victoria state on Saturday reported two new COVID-19 fatalities, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to 118.

Daniel Andrews, Victoria’s premier, told a press conference in the regional capital Melbourne that 217 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, while two more people in the state have died from the virus.

Andrews said that after hitting a daily high of 428 cases on Friday, the drop in cases to 217 on Saturday does not mean that the danger has passed.

Andrews added that even if symptoms are mild, people should still get tested.

After over 3 million tests across the country to date, 11,441 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, while 118 have lost their lives.

With new cases especially in Victoria and New South Wales states, there are 2,752 active cases in total, and 8,117 total recoveries.

-New Zealand

To the east, New Zealand's Health Ministry on Saturday reported one new coronavirus case.

The number of active cases in the country is 22, while 22 is also the number of people who have so far lost their lives.

Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil, and India are currently the countries hardest hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed nearly 603,000 people worldwide, with over 14 million confirmed cases and nearly 8 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan

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