Coronavirus: Global death toll climbs over 16,500

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic climbed to 16,559 on Tuesday, as per figures compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

The virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China last December, has spread to at least 168 countries and regions around the globe.

The tally of confirmed cases exceeds 380,000.

In all, 101,806 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered from the disease so far.

Italy, China, Spain and Iran continue to be the most affected countries.

Although China has the most confirmed cases with 81,552, Italy recorded the most coronavirus-related deaths with 6,077 fatalities in more than 63,927 cases. China, the ground zero of the virus, followed Italy with 3,160 deaths.

Over 2,300 people have died in Spain, while the current death toll is over 1,800 in Iran. Spain's confirmed cases sit at 35,136 as Iran surpassed 23,000.

Many countries have restricted flights from the most affected places and gone through lockdowns as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic and Europe the new epicenter of the disease.