Global COVID-19 deaths surpass solemn 100K mark: study

WASHINGTON

Over 100,000 people have died from COVID-19 complications while nearly 370,000 have recovered as of Friday, according to data being compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

In crossing the grim milestone, the university counted 100,376 fatalities and 368,669 recoveries. Over 1.65 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus in the four months since it was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

COVID-19 is the respiratory disease that manifests in people who have been infected with the virus.

Successive governments worldwide have imposed increasingly stringent measures intended to keep people largely at home to prevent the outbreak from worsening, using practices known as social distancing. That has led to widespread business closures, sending the global economy on to the precipice of recession.

The U.S. remains the country with the highest number of cases, 475,749, but Italy continues to hold the highest death toll with 18,849 fatalities.

In all, the virus has spread to 185 countries and regions since it emerged in China, according to Johns Hopkins.