The total number of coronavirus COVID-19 cases across 185 nations spiraled towards 2,240,768 and the death toll stood at 153,871 at 07.00 am (IST) on Saturday (April 18) as per the Johns Hopkins University data.
With the highest numbers both in positive cases and death toll, the US continues to remain the worst-hit with a total of 700,282 cases. It is followed by Spain at with 190,839 cases, Italy with 172,434 cases, France with 149,130 cases and Germany with 141,397 cases.
With a massive jump, the US has witnessed the highest death toll across all the nations at 36,822, followed by Italy at 22,745, Spain at 20,002, France at 18,703 and the UK at 14,607.
The European Union has recommended smartphone tracking apps to help countries ease restrictions that have prompted steep economic downturns across the bloc.
Amid the rising scare of coronavirus pandemic, the World Bank Group (WBG) is expected to launch health emergency programs in over 100 countries by the end of April to support the fight against COVID-19, with 64 already in operation, President David Malpass said Friday.
The WBG will work to deploy as much as $160 billion over the next 15 months, tailored to the nature of the health, economic and social shocks that countries are facing during the pandemic, Malpass told a virtual press conference during the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the WBG.
Other multilateral development banks (MDBs), such as Asian Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank, have committed as a group to roughly $80 billion over this period, bringing the total funding from MDBs to 240 billion dollars, Malpass said.
The World Bank president said he is pleased that Group of Twenty (G20) countries have recently decided to provide a suspension in debt service to bilateral creditors during the crisis, calling it "a powerful fast-acting initiative that can bring real benefits to the poor."
The policy-setting body of the IMF on Thursday also pledged collective action to mitigate the health and economic impact of COVID-19.
