Coronavirus Latest Global Death Toll Hits 6,512; Italy Had 368 Deaths In 24 Hours

In a disturbing development, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the number of COVID-19 cases sweeping the world outside China (where it began in December 2019) is now a clear trend.

The total confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide stood at 169,086 with 6,512 total deaths, as of late Sunday evening, New York City time. Of the total cases, 81,020 are in China and 88,066 in the rest of the world. This means 52% of the total number of COVID-19 cases is now taking place outside China.

Twelve countries outside China currently have 1,000 or more confirmed novel coronavirus infections. These countries report a total of 76,649 cases representing 45% of the world total. They're Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, France, U.S., Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands and Sweden.

On February 26, WHO for the first time reported the majority of new cases per day were being reported outside China. This initial data has since become a trend and is validated by data showing confirmed cases in China continuing to dwindle. On the other hand, many other countries such as Italy are reporting thousands of new infections, including the United States, which now has 3,349 cases in 49 states.

The most disturbing news, however, comes out of Italy -- the new global COVID-19 epicenter -- that reported 368 new deaths in 24 hours Sunday, bringing its death toll total to 1,809. There were 1,441 cases on Saturday, meaning total cases rose 25% in one day.

As of Sunday, Italy had 24,747 confirmed total cases consisting of 20,603 active cases with the rest being recoveries. With this number, Italy has an astounding mortality rate of 7.8%. Italy has the second number of cases and deaths in the world next to China.

Among countries with at least one million citizens, Italy has the world's highest per capita rate of positive COVID-19 cases at 350.0 cases per million people. It has more confirmed cases than all of mainland China outside Hubei province.

Eleven municipalities in northern Italy are the centers of the two main infection clusters. The first confirmed COVID-19 case in Italy was confirmed on January 31 when two Chinese tourists in Rome tested positive. On March 8, prime minister Giuseppe Conte expanded the quarantine to all of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces. On March 9, the quarantine was further expanded to include all of Italy, in effect placing more than 60 million people in quarantine.