However, the number of people who are officially recorded as having recovered from the disease receives far less attention.
The important stat climbed past the quarter of a million barrier (to 252,478) on Sunday, as more than 20 percent of confirmed carriers of the virus has officially overcome the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Of course, this represents only a portion of the total number of people who have actually beaten the virus, as most experience only a mild illness, or even no symptoms at all, and overcome it without needing medical care.
Experts have noted that one of the most significant figures of the entire outbreak is the number of people who have contracted the disease and recovered from without ever registering in the official statistics.
The total number of cases of Covid-19 around the world stood at approximately 1.2 million on Sunday, and the number of fatalities surged past 65,000.
The mortality rate among confirmed cases is 4%. though the good news is the true figure is likely to be lower, because of large numbers of unreported people with mild symptoms.
The UK’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, has disputed the WHO’s global figure of 3.4%, saying he believes the eventual toll will be around 1%.
One reassuring tipping point to bear in mind is that around one month after the initial outbreak in China, with strict containment measures in place, the number of recoveries began to outstrip the number of new cases. This is the point the West’s containment measures are hoping to reach.
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Health authorities in countries across the world again stressed the importance of observing social distancing, lockdowns and other measures brought in to try and wrestle the outbreak under control.
RT with additional input from GVS News Desk.