Coronavirus global death toll crosses 31,000

The worldwide number of officially confirmed fatalities from the novel coronavirus rose to 31,412 on Sunday, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources. More than two-thirds of the deaths from coronavirus have now been recorded in Europe.

Over 667,090 declared cases have been registered in 183 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December. Of these cases, at least 134,700 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP offices from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), likely reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are only testing cases that require hospitalisation.

Italy, which recorded its first coronavirus death in February, has to date declared 10,023 fatalities, with 92,472 infections and 12,384 people recovered. Like Italy, Spain has more fatalities than China with 6,528, as well as 78,747 infections.

China -- excluding Hong Kong and Macau -- has to date declared 3,295 deaths and 81,394 cases, with 74,971 recoveries.

The other worst-hit countries are Iran with 2,640 deaths and 38,309 cases, and France with 2,314 deaths and 37,575 cases.

The United States has the highest number of infected people with 124,686 diagnosed cases, 2,191 deaths and 2,612 recoveries. Cases there have soared from 41,511 on Monday, making it the country with the fastest progression rate. Since 1900 GMT Saturday, Uruguay, New Zealand and Mali have announced their first deaths.

By continent, Europe has listed 363,766 cases and 22,259 deaths to date, Asia 104,596 cases and 3,761 deaths, the Middle East 46,596 cases and 2,718 deaths, the US and Canada together 130,120 cases with 2,250 deaths, Latin America and the Caribbean 13,544 cases with 274 deaths, Africa 4,267 cases with 134 deaths and Oceania 4,208 cases with 16 deaths.