By The Visual and Data Journalism Team
26 March, 2020

Coronavirus has been spreading rapidly across the world, affecting 175 countries and claiming more than 23,000 lives.

There are more than 510,000 confirmed cases worldwide. Southern Europe is now at the epicentre of the crisis and the US is also facing a surge in cases.

This series of maps and charts will help you understand what is going on.

The global pandemic continues to grow

The virus is spreading rapidly in many countries, with more than 420,000 confirmed cases outside China, according to the latest figures collated by Johns Hopkins University.

The true figure for the number of people with coronavirus is thought to be much higher as many of those with milder symptoms have not been tested and counted.

The virus emerged in China in December and more than 3,100 people there have died from the infection - but both Italy and Spain now have higher death tolls.

The number of cases in Italy and the US are also set to eclipse China soon.

The coronavirus outbreak was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March. This is when an infectious disease is passing easily from person to person in many parts of the world at the same time.

The WHO said it took more than three months to reach the first 100,000 confirmed cases worldwide, but only 12 days to reach 200,000, four days to reach 300,000 and three days to reach 400,000.

China says it has now all but stopped the spread of the disease and is planning to partially lift the lockdown in Wuhan, the city in Hubei province where the outbreak began, on 8 April.

South Korea has also seen its number of cases fall in the last couple of weeks and is hoping to reopen schools next month.

Other countries, like Italy, Spain and the US, are still ramping up measures as they continue to try to slow down the spread of the virus.

Governments across the world have halted flights, locked down towns and cities and urged people to stay at home.

India and Saudi Arabia have begun strict lockdowns, while similar restrictions on the movement of people have been put into place across Europe.

Europe struggling to slow the spread

European countries have seen steep rises in infections and deaths, and the region has become the new epicentre of the crisis.

Five countries already have more than 10,000 cases - Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Switzerland - and the UK is just behind them.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has described his country as being "at war" with the death toll there now at more than 4,000.

Italy looks set to imminently pass China's 81,782 confirmed cases. Its death toll of 7,503 is also more than double the official toll in China.

The majority of the deaths have occurred in the northern Lombardy region, which contains the city of Milan. Hospitals there are reportedly at breaking point and retired doctors and nurses have been asked to return to work.

The country has been locked down since 12 March, with nearly all shops, bars, hairdressers, restaurants and cafes closed.

In Germany, there have been more than 40,000 cases so far and more than 200 deaths. Chancellor Angela Merkel has herself been forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with a doctor who was infected.

In the UK, confirmed cases stand at more than 11,000 and at least 578 people have died. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a clampdown on 23 March, urging people to stay at home to avoid unnecessary transmission of the disease.

Cases rising quickly in the US

The WHO has said that the US could become the next epicentre of the pandemic, given the "very large acceleration in cases".

New York is at the centre of the outbreak, with nearly half of the country's 75,000 cases. Governor Andrew Cuomo said the illness was spreading faster than "a bullet train" in the state.

While there is no nationwide lockdown in place, several states have introduced measures to try to cope with the growing number of cases, closing restaurants, bars, cinemas, hotels and gyms.

New data shows the economic impact it is having on the country, with the number of people without jobs surging to a record high of nearly 3.3 million. The previous record was set in 1982, when unemployment claims hit 695,000.

President Trump recently said he wants to loosen restrictions on activity as early as next month, despite the surge of cases.

Millions living under restrictions on their movement

India is one of the latest countries to enforce a lockdown, meaning its 1.3 billion residents are now forbidden from leaving their homes for a few weeks at least.

That means more than a quarter of the 7.8 billion people in the world are now living under some form of restrictions on their movement and social contact due to the coronavirus.

People in major cities like London, Barcelona and New York are now moving around far less than they were a few weeks ago, according to data from the travel app Citymapper.

The data also shows that while Milan in northern Italy has been locked down for several weeks now, many other cities have only been restricting movement in recent days.

While movement is also down in the South Korean capital Seoul, the city hasn't ground to a halt like European capitals despite facing huge numbers of coronavirus cases - a sign of the country's decision to focus on widespread testing and contact tracing rather than social distancing.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51235105

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