Coronavirus killing one person every 15 seconds as global death toll hits a staggering 700,000

THE coronavirus is now killing one person every 15 seconds - as the global death toll passes 700,000.

The news comes as cases in countries around the world continue to rise, with the US, Brazil, and India among the hardest hit.

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An average of almost 5,900 people are now dying from the virus in each 24-hour period globally.

That works out at 247 people every hour or one every 15 seconds.

The biggest toll has been in the US, which has seen 160,385 deaths so far and continues to see around 1,100 every day.

President Trump has faced criticism this week after responding to a question about the deaths by saying: “They are dying, that’s true. It is what it is.

"But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it. This is a horrible plague.”

Speaking yesterday, Dr Anthony Fauci, the White House's top medical advisor, said that states now seeing a resurgence of the virus should consider reimposing lockdowns.

The second-largest toll has been in Brazil, which has seen at least 96,069 people killed by the virus.

President Jair Bolsonaro has similarly faced criticism after initially attempting to play down the virus as "a little flu" and calling on regional governors to lift lockdowns while infection rates remained high.

The pandemic has proved particularly difficulty to contain across Latin America, where many have have continued working because their jobs are in the informal sector and they lack any financial safety net.

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Even countries that were previously had success containing the virus have seen renewed outbreaks in recents weeks.

Spikes in cases have been seen in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, and Israel.

Belgium now has the most deaths per one million people of any country in the world, with 850, while the UK is in second with 682.

The virus took longer to take hold in India, but the country has now seen over 1.9million cases and at least 39,856 deaths.

It is currently seeing around 800 deaths per day, but the figure continues to rise.

Speaking on Monday, World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "When the Committee met three months ago, three million cases of COVID-19 had been reported to WHO, and more than 200,000 deaths.

"Since then, the number of cases has increased more than fivefold to 17.5 million, and the number of deaths has more than tripled, to 680,000.

"Over the past week we’ve seen several countries that appeared as though they were past the worst now contending with fresh spikes in cases.

"However, we’ve also seen how some countries, regions or localities that had a high number of cases are now bringing the outbreak under control."

He went on to outline a number of recommendations the would help countries bring the virus under control.

"These range from sharing best practice, to enhancing political commitment and leadership for national strategies and localized response activities driven by science, data, and experience," he said.