The daily number of coronavirus deaths has fallen globally for a third consecutive day, boosting hopes the world has passed the outbreak's peak.
The toll rose to 4,248 on Saturday bringing total fatalities since the outbreak came to light on December last year to 280,443.
The number of daily deaths fell 23.5% on Saturday compared to Friday. This marks a fall of 1,302 compared to the previous day, which saw 5,550 deaths.
The highest daily fatalities so far were reported on April 17, with 8,429 deaths from Covid-19 in a 24-hour period. Saturday’s total deaths were decreased by 49.7% from that day.
A week ago, on May 3, the number of new deaths worldwide was 3,480 and a week before that on April 26, it was 3,757.
Till now, the number of active cases stands at 2,379,631.
Of the active case 2,331,948 (98%) were identified to be in mild condition while the rest 47,683 (2%) have been marked as serious or critical.
At the same time, 1,441,815 people from across the world have recovered fully from the infection or were discharged from treatment – which was 84% of cases which had an outcome.
The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed 280,443 lives since its discovery in December 2019 – which was 16% of cases which had an outcome.
In January, China effectively shut down Wuhan and placed its 11 million residents in effective quarantine after the novel coronavirus infection turned into outbreak.
The virus is thought to have emerged late last year in a Wuhan market illegally trading wildlife. It can cause pneumonia, respiratory diseases, among others, and spreads between people in droplets from coughs and sneezes.
Till now, coronavirus or Covid-19 has affected 212 countries and territories around the world.
