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10 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 APRIL 2020 NEWS INTERNATIONAL Countries with highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths Country GLOBAL USA Spain Italy France Germany UK Turkey Iran China Russia Belgium Brazil Canada Netherlands Switzerland Portugal India Peru Ireland Sweden Austria Israel Saudi Arabia Japan Chile S. Korea Ecuador Poland Pakistan Romania Singapore Mexico UAE Denmark Norway Indonesia Czechia Serbia Belarus Australia Philippines Qatar Ukraine Malaysia Dominican Rep Panama Finland Colombia Luxem-bourg Bangladesh Total Cases 2,527,775 802,159 204,178 183,957 155,383 147,958 129,044 95,591 84,802 82,758 52,763 40,956 40,814 37,398 34,134 28,063 21,379 18,985 16,325 15,652 15,322 14,873 13,883 11,631 11,135 10,832 10,683 10,128 9,856 9,565 9,242 9,125 8,772 7,755 7,695 7,191 7,135 6,961 6,890 6,723 6,645 6,599 6,533 6,125 5,482 5,044 4,658 4,014 3,977 3,618 3,382 Deaths 174,455 43,495 21,282 24,648 20,265 4,934 17,337 2,259 5,297 4,632 456 5,998 2,588 1,728 3,916 1,436 762 603 445 687 1,765 491 181 109 263 147 237 507 401 201 498 11 712 46 370 182 616 201 130 55 71 437 9 161 92 245 136 141 189 78 110 WHO says coronavirus likely of animal origin, not lab-made THE World Health Organization (WHO) said that all available evidence suggests the novel coronavirus origi- nated in animals in China late last year and was not manipulated or produced in a laboratory. US President Donald Trump said last week that his government was trying to determine whether the virus emanated from a lab in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus pan- demic emerged in December. "All available evidence suggests the virus has an animal origin and is not manipulated or constructed in a lab or somewhere else," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said. "It is probable, likely, that the virus is of animal origin." It was not clear, Chaib added, how the virus had jumped the species barrier to humans but there had "certainly" been an intermediate animal host. "It most likely has its ecological res- ervoir in bats but how the virus came from bats to humans is still to be seen and discovered." She did not respond to a request to elaborate on whether it was possible the virus may have inadvertently es- caped from a lab. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has dismissed rumours both that it synthe- sised the virus or allowed it to escape. Chaib, asked about the impact of Trump's decision last week to sus- pend funding to the UN agency over its handling of the coronavirus pan- demic, said: "We are still assessing the situation about the announcement by President Trump ...and we will assess the situation and we will work with our partners to fill any gaps." "It is very important to continue what we are doing not only for COVID but for many, many, many, many other health programmes," she added, refer- ring to action against polio, HIV and malaria among other diseases. She said that the WHO was 81 per cent funded for the next two years as of the end of March, referring to its $US4.8 billion biennial budget. The United States is the Gene- va-based agency's biggest donor. Other big contributors are the Gates Foundation and Britain. SPAIN saw a slight increase in the dai- ly virus death toll on Tuesday, with 430 people dying in the past 24 hours, health ministry data showed. So far, 21,282 people have suc- cumbed to the pandemic in Spain, which has suffered the third-highest number of deaths in the world after the United States and Italy. Officials say the numbers tend to go up slightly on Tuesdays following a slight delay in receiving data from the regions on deaths that have occurred over the weekend. On Monday, Spain registered 399 deaths overnight in what was the lowest figure in four weeks. The number of confirmed cases now stands at 204,178, the second-highest number in the world after the Unit- ed States which has registered more than 750,000 infections. Medical staff have been particular- ly exposed in Spain given the lack of protective equipment when the ep- idemic first took hold, with 31,788 cases among healthcare workers -- just over 15 percent of the total, the figures showed. But the number of people who have gotten over the disease has also risen with Spain counting 82,518 recover- ies. Spanish health officials believe the epidemic peaked on April 2 when 950 people died over 24 hours, near- ly three weeks after the government imposed a strict lockdown, effectively confining almost 47 million citizens at home to slow the spread of the vi- rus. The March 14 lockdown has been twice extended with the government saying it would move for a fresh ex- tension until May 9, although condi- tions are to be slightly eased on April 27 to allow children to spend some time outside. Coronavirus: Spain records hike in daily toll with 430 new deaths