Coronavirus in 53 countries; 1st case in sub-Saharan Africa

PanARMENIAN.Net - The new coronavirus continued to spread apace Friday, February 28, disrupting plans for everything from major sports tournaments and concerts to planned U.S. military exercises. The global death toll was over 2,800 and the disease made its first worrying appearance in sub-Saharan Africa.

More than 83,000 cases of the COVID-19 disease have now been confirmed in 53 countries. While about 36,000 of those people have recovered, fast-growing outbreaks in South Korea, Italy and Iran — along with the first case confirmed in Nigeria — show the battle to contain the virus is still in its early stages. Officials have worried the disease could spread widely in countries with weaker public health systems, specifically in Africa and Latin America, CBS says.

In the U.S., at least 60 people were being treated for COVID-19 as of Thursday, most of them evacuated from Asia. The origin of one case, a woman in California, has been impossible for doctors to trace, leading the CDC to warn the U.S. has likely seen its first case of "community spread."

Azerbaijan’s coronavirus crisis center said on Friday that a Russian national traveling from Iran had tested positive for coronavirus.

Also Friday, Georgia – another of Armenia's neighbors – confirmed the second case of Covid-19.