4. Italy
With the Italian government taking steps to essentially quarantine it’s near 60 million citizens, it’s clear that so far, Italy has been the worst affected country in Europe. Widespread travel inside and out of Italy has been cited as the main cause of this Covid-19 spread.
Northern Italy has been the worst affected by the outbreak with the majority of the country’s recorded cases located there. All affected cities have been put on high alert and in many cases, locked down completely.
The measures taken by the Italian government, like closing schools, universities and other institutions or cancelling sporting events, may in fact successfully limit the spread of this virus but concerns remain as Italy has one of the world’s oldest populations with 60% over age 40.
Coronavirus deaths in Italy raised sharply from 366 on 08 March to 827 on 11 March and further to 1,016 on 12 March. Making its national death rate higher than the global average. Total cases reached 15,113.
5. South Korea
Likely due to the fact it’s the immediate neighbour, South Korea finds itself with the most cases of coronavirus outside mainland China. Rising sharply from February, the reported cases in South Korea are currently close to reaching 8,000. The death toll has reached 67.
The Korean government has sought the help of the Chinese government whose experience in containing the outbreak has resulted in controlling the local spread of the epidemic.
6. Spain
Spain finds itself, unfortunately, holding the number two position as the most coronavirus affected country in Europe, witnessing an alarming spike in cases in just over a month since the first coronavirus case confirmed on 01 February.
The cases of Covid-19 nCoV-infected almost reached 1,000 in early hours of 09 March and rose sharply to more than 3,146 on 12 March. The death toll has increased to 86, panicking it’s citizens and prompting the Spanish government to spring into action.
The Spanish royal family are currently undergoing tests for the virus as a minister from the Spanish government has been confirmed to have contracted Covid-19.
