COVID-19 death toll in Europe more than doubles that in China

As the cumulative number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Europe has reached about 7,500, the death toll has surpassed twice that of mainland China (3,255). About 58 percent of the world's total deaths have occurred in Europe.

As the novel coronavirus from China has spread like wild fire across Europe including Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland and the U.K., the number of human losses is growing out of control. According to health authorities in respective countries, as of Saturday afternoon, the cumulative number of deaths in Italy was 4,825, up 793 (19.6 percent) from Friday. The fatality rate in Italy is 9.0 percent, which is more than twice the world average of 4.3 percent and 22 times that of Germany (0.4 percent). The cumulative number of confirmed patients in Italy jumped by 6,557 (13.9 percent) from the previous day to reach 53,578 on Saturday.

Spain saw 3,803 new confirmed cases on Saturday, which brought the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 25,374, and the death toll also increased by 324 to hit 1,326. The cumulative number of confirmed patients in Europe reached more than 150,000, including 22,084 in Germany, 14,459 in France, 6,489 in Switzerland, 5,018 in the U.K., 3,631 in the Netherlands, 2,847 in Austria, and 2,815 in Belgium. It is nearly twice the figure of 81,008 cases that have been confirmed in mainland China.

Governments in Europe are strengthening restrictions including isolation and ban on movement through curfew, ban on access to public parks and personal exercise after 8 p.m., and monitoring through drones. Around 1 billion people across the world have been quarantined through various COVID-19-related measures, including 600 million people who are only staying at home due to ban on movement imposed by governments, AFP reported.

As the situation in Europe has continued to worsen, the Korean government decided to screen all travelers arriving from Europe starting on Sunday. In the process of quarantine, people with symptoms are screened in isolated facilities at the quarantine office, and asymptomatic patients are inspected in designated temporary living facilities. Seven temporary living facilities have been arranged, including the SK Muui Training Center in Incheon and the KORAIL Human Resources Development Center in Gyeonggi Province.


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